


When Water Becomes Blood

by DayDreamingIsMyHobby



Category: The Walking Dead (TV)
Genre: Action, Drama, Eventual Romance, F/M, Friendship, Hurt/Comfort, Inspired by The Walking Dead, Romance, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-11-20
Updated: 2019-06-27
Packaged: 2019-08-26 15:20:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 21
Words: 73,288
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16684102
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DayDreamingIsMyHobby/pseuds/DayDreamingIsMyHobby
Summary: Everyone lost everything they knew when the world collapsed. No one was left unscarred or whole again. But it’s human nature to try to survive and to tirelessly hold on for as long as they can. 28-year-old survivor Shannon is doing just that. Desperate to keep the only person she has left in this world safe. But when their situation becomes dire, and they have no where left to go, Shannon puts aside her fear of people and puts her trust in a large group hidden inside the walls of a Georgia prison.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> So as my username suggests, I daydream A LOT, too much. I often get these very detailed stories that play out like little movies in my head. I had this particular one building in my mind awhile back and I finally decided to write it down. I don’t know if it will be any good but I figured it never hurts to try it out and see where the story goes. I don’t usually do original characters for Fanfiction stories so this is new territory for me! This takes place roughly around the beginning of season 4 when they were at the prison and were taking people in but I’m definitely taking some creative liberties and changing some things. There will eventually be a romance that blossoms but it will be a very, very slow burn. I hope you enjoy!

It was unusually quiet that early fall morning in those Georgia woods. One might say it was eerily quiet, as if the trees themselves were expecting something to happen. Moments later the frantic sounds of breaking twigs and rustling leaves echoed through the otherwise silent woods and two panicked souls came crashing through.

Shannon’s lungs were screaming for air, but she kept running. Her stomach cried out in desperation for food, but she kept running. Her head danced in circles and her vision was spotty, but she refused to stop running. The only thing that kept her going at this breakneck pace was the boy sprinting along side of her. She dared a quick glance over at him before urging her legs to go just a little faster. Stopping meant death, and letting him die was unacceptable. So she kept running.

What felt like an eternity passed before Shannon finally grabbed hold of her younger brother’s hand and slowed their pace to a brisk walk. 

“I think… we’re far enough,” Shannon choked out between gasps for air.

“I need to sit down,” 20-year-old Tyler tried to stop moving but Shannon pulled him along.

“We can’t. You have to let your heart rate come down slowly. If you sit after all that running you’ll give yourself a heart attack.”

“I think that’s just an urban legend,” Tyler protested but Shannon gave him a sharp look.

“I’m not risking testing that theory out. Now move.”

Shannon kept a tight grip on her brother’s hand as they continued to walk. They had narrowly missed disaster when they came upon a large group of 15 or so dead ones. Shannon knew they didn’t stand a chance fighting against them and realized their only hope was to run. Fortunately they had both been active runners before the fall. If they hadn’t been in such good shape, it’s likely they never would have made it this long. More accurately, one of them wouldn’t have made it this far.

Shannon was better equipped to deal with this new world. Being a licensed gun owner and having a frequently used kickboxing membership certainly helped but her survival instincts and the fact that she didn’t trust easily had kept them alive. Her one weakness was the boy she would do anything to protect. Her brother, eight years her junior, couldn’t be more different than her. With a kind heart and a sensitive nature, he was a prime target for this dark world and the cruel people who inherited it. He refused to kill even the most evil of persons, convinced that there was still good in them somewhere, that they were merely victims of circumstance.

It was mainly for this reason that the two siblings had been on their own for awhile now. Shannon simply didn’t trust her brother to be around other people and she certainly didn’t trust people to be around the only person she had left in the world. She had to keep him safe, she had to keep her promise.

“What’s that over there?” 

Tyler’s excitement snapped Shannon from her foggy thoughts. She glanced ahead to where he was pointing and saw not only a very large prison but strong looking fences, and people… lots of people. Shannon tried pulling the curious boy in the opposite direction but he wouldn’t budge. 

“We should go check it out.”

“Absolutely not.”

“Why not?”

“You know why not.” Shannon’s voice sounded firm but her eyes were soft. She once admired how loving and warm Tyler could be. She envied how he always brought out the best in people and how he could remain so positive even when life threw curve balls. But now she only saw the danger in his ways.

“Come on, Shannon. We haven’t eaten in days. And I know you haven’t slept in weeks. At this rate, there’s just no way we’re going to make it out here on our own.” 

Shannon felt the very little left in her stomach turn. He was right. She didn’t want to admit it, but he was. After everything she had done to try to keep him safe, to keep him alive, it would all be for nothing if she couldn’t even keep him from wasting away. She was a good scavenger but she was a terrible hunter. She couldn’t remember the last real meal they had, had. She dropped her head in shame, the overwhelming feeling of failure engulfing her from the inside out. She was embracing her self pity entirely until she felt her brother’s arms wrap around her.

“Don’t do that,” he scolded softly. “You’ve done everything you can. You’ve gone above and beyond. But sometimes you need to ask for help.”

Shannon felt tears stinging in her eyes but she refused to let them fall. Instead she reached up and cupped her brother’s face before planting a soft kiss on his forehead.

“We’ll check it out. But if I have one bad feeling… One single concern… We’re bolting. Promise?”

Tyler hesitated before finally nodding, “Okay. But I really think it will work this time.” 

God Shannon hoped he was right.

***

Shannon took a deep shaky breath as the two inched closer to the prison. It looked secure, if she was being honest with herself it looked more than secure, it looked safe. It looked like a home, or as close to a home as you can get these days. But that didn’t help the pit sitting deep in her stomach. Homes were hard to come by and people were fiercely protective of their’s. She had seen what people were capable of doing and the lengths they would go to protect their homes and the people within them. The last thing she wanted was to get stuck inside walls with people who didn’t want her there. But she had no choice, Tyler was right, they were desperate.

She silently prayed that there wouldn’t be too many people on watch duty. She could handle one or two on her own but any more than that was entering into risky territory. Despite her petite frame, she could handle herself just fine. She was tough and strong and quick. She had gotten the two of them out of more than one dangerous run in. She only wished she could truly be as brave as she pretended she was.

Without taking her eyes off of the approaching fence, Shannon gathered up her exceedingly long blonde hair and tied it up into a messy bun on top of her head. She pulled the shoelace keeping it together tighter as she heard a nervous chuckle to her left.

“Now I know you’re serious about this.” 

Shannon tilted her head in confusion, “How you figure that?”

“You only put your hair up like that when you mean business.” Tyler grinned, “Like when you use to go to the gym, or when you were working on a project, or like the time that kid at my middle school kept picking on me and you made him back off. Pretty sure he pissed himself when he saw you coming.”

It was Shannon’s turn to nervously laugh, “Shit head had it coming. And your teachers weren’t doing anything about it. Someone had to put him in his place.”

Before she knew it, they were standing in front of the makeshift gate. Shannon armed herself with her handgun to try to ease her nerves and to show whoever approached them that they were not to be messed with. The gun only had one bullet left in it but their greeters didn’t need to know that.

“Tyler, have your knife ready.”

He shook his head, “We don’t want them to think we’re a threat.”

“God dammit, Tyler just have your knife ready!”

She felt her frantic heartbeat slow down as she saw him adjust his knife to a better position so he could grab it quickly if need be. He still wouldn’t hold it but at least he was somewhat more prepared. Shannon’s eyes were on his knife when a confused voice startled her back to their current situation.

“Who are you?”

Shannon looked up to see a large black man standing directly in front of them on the other side of the fence. He was holding an assault rifle but Shannon instantly took note that it was pointed at the ground rather than at them. Not a bad sign, but it still didn’t convince her that they were entirely safe. 

“Hey man, I’m Tyler and this is my sister Shannon.” He paused a moment to smile at the concerned looking man cautiously staring back at him, “We were wondering if we could borrow some eggs.”

Normally Shannon would have rolled her eyes and giggled at Tyler’s ridiculously cheesy humor but she was too afraid to even move. In fact, she wanted to punch him for saying something so stupid to a complete stranger but when she noticed the man’s lips curl up into a smile she felt some of the tension leave her shoulders.

The relief didn’t last long though when she saw two other men in the distance began to jog towards them. One was a young man with dark brown hair and kind eyes, the other had a leather vest and a cross bow that Shannon saw immediately was pointed directly at her brother. Instinct kicked in and she raised her gun and pointed it right between the archer’s sharp eyes, he replied by promptly redirected his aim at her. Tyler tried to push her behind him but her feet were glued to the ground.

“Tyreese, what do we have here?” The man with the kind eyes had a thick southern drawl that lingered in the air.

“A brother and a sister. They just showed up.”

Shannon felt the man turn to look at them but she refused to take her eyes away from the threatening looking archer, and he refused to take his eyes off of her.

“What brings you here?”

Shannon was dumbfounded, not necessarily by the question but by how he said it. As if it was a normal summer day and she and her brother just strolled on over to his neck of the woods. She didn’t like how calm he was. Every fiber of her being was screaming at her to run but she stayed, she had to. Whether it was out of fear or out of sheer stubbornness, Shannon couldn’t bring herself to answer his damn question. Her jaw remained tightly locked.

“I’m Tyler, sir. This is my sister Shannon.” Tyler glanced cautiously at his stiff older sibling, “Excuse her, she doesn’t trust most people.”

The man chuckled lightly at that, “I can see that. But rightfully so. I’m Rick.” He gestured to his left, "Tyreese, you’ve met and Daryl is behind me. He doesn’t trust most people either.”

Tyler grinned at the retort, but Shannon still couldn’t even blink.

“It seems like you have a real nice place here.” Tyler nodded towards the prison yard, “My sister and I have been on our own for awhile. I don’t mind being frank with you, Rick… We’re not doing well. We’re barely surviving. I dragged my sister here in hopes you had some room for us. We’d earn our keep and we wouldn’t be a bother to anyone.” 

He was doing his best to sound confident but Shannon could sense the anxiety in his voice. Her heart went out to him then and for the first time she silently prayed that these strangers would take pity on them and let them in. She watched out of the corner of her eye as this man Rick nodded slowly in contemplation. He turned to Tyreese first who gave the slightest of nods back and then to Daryl who still wouldn’t budge. Rick turned back to the two shabby looking siblings.

“If you put your weapon down we can talk.”

“I’ll put mine down if Robin Hood over there puts his down first.”

“Not a chance,” the archer’s gruff response made Shannon tighten her grip. 

“Look I have a few questions I need to ask before I can even consider letting you both in. But before I can ask you the questions I need all weapons lowered.” Rick turned to look behind him, “That means you too, Daryl.”

Tyler reached his hand over to cover Shannon’s. She finally broke from her stare down to look over into her brother’s pleading eyes. Her brain kept screaming at her that this was a mistake, that they would shoot them both down the moment she eased her grip on the gun but some soothing voice inside of her kept whispering that everything would be ok.

So despite her better judgement and ignoring the instincts that had kept them alive this long, Shannon gave in and slowly placed her gun back into it’s holster. She looked back up to see Daryl hesitantly lower his weapon as well. Shannon finally released the breath she hadn’t realized she’d been holding.

Rick nodded at them both, “Good ok, I’m going to ask you two the questions together, but please answer them separately.” 

Shannon and Tyler remained in silent anticipation. What in the world could these magical questions be that would grant them access to this secure location?

“First, how many walkers have you killed?”

“Walkers?” Shannon lifted an eyebrow, “The flesh eaters?”

Rick only nodded in response, Shannon stared back trying to calculate the number in her head.

“I have no idea. 30? Maybe more? Didn’t know I was suppose to keep track.”

Rick ignore her sarcasm and turned his gaze towards Tyler who sheepishly looked to the ground and kicked the dirt, “One.”

“How many people have you killed?”

Shannon felt Tyler’s worried eyes bounce to her’s. The sick feeling in her stomach returned but for a whole new reason. Just when she thought she had seen every way a person could be cruel, she discovered there was another. Bringing up the past revealed itself to be the worst kind of torture. The silence stretched on for longer than Rick and company felt allowable so he asked again but much more aggressively. Shannon looked down at her dirty hands and her cracked knuckles avoiding everyone’s accusing looks.

“Two.”

“Why?”

Shannon felt anger bubble to the surface. How dare this man she barely knew ask such personal questions. She was about to give him a piece of her mind when she felt her brother’s hand grab her own. Whether he meant it to be comforting or as a warning to keep her damn mouth shut, it didn’t matter, it worked the same. She remembered her promise, she had to keep him safe, no matter what. So she looked this Rick in the eyes and told him the truth;

“The first one because he was getting eaten alive right in front of me, so I took away his pain.” Shannon shook her head trying to shake away the vivid memory threatening to overtake her mind. “And the other, because she was bit and she begged me not to let her turn into one of the monsters.” Shannon tried to swallow but her mouth was dryer than sand paper. She saw the sadness fill Rick’s eyes and she knew he understood. No one was left unscarred in this new world. He turned those sad blue eyes onto Tyler, waiting for his answers.

“I haven’t killed anyone.”

“Why?”

She saw her brother stand a little straighter and with a confidence she hadn’t heard out of him since before the fall, he gave his honest answer, “Because there is enough death in this world. People shouldn’t be killing other people.”

The moment of silence that followed seemed to stretch on for a lifetime. Shannon’s brain went a mile a minute, were their answers enough? Would they kill them now? Could they escape? What waited for them on the other side of this gate? What the hell were those questions? Could she trust them? Could they trust her? Her racing thoughts were broken by the screeching sound of the fence being pulled back and Rick’s voice saying the last thing Shannon expected to ever hear again.

“Come on in. Welcome.”


	2. Chapter 2

The walk across the prison yard felt like a surreal dream, everything seemed to be happening in slow motion for Shannon. She saw Tyreese pat Tyler on the shoulder as they crossed paths and could see Rick’s mouth moving as he pointed in different directions but she could only hear the sound of her heart pounding in her ears. She saw her brother smile and look around and she saw Daryl glaring at her, but everything else was a blur. She had no idea how she was managing to put one foot in front of the other because she truly felt like she was having an out of body experience. 

As they marched closer to the prison that surreal feeling only got greater. she started to see things she couldn’t believe. Smiling faces, people washing clothes, children running and laughing, a woman placing food on a young boy’s plate. This place couldn’t be real. This just didn’t exist anymore.

“Shannon? You ok?”

Her brother’s worried toned snapped her right out of her daze. For just the briefest of moments she forgot where she was and the instinctive feeling of being alert and prepared for danger at every turn took over.

It took everything in her to not grab for her hunting knife out of pure habit. But the tense moment passed almost as quickly as it had arrived and she turned to look into the bright green eyes that matched her own. She swallowed the lump in her throat and nodded.

“It’s alright. It’s a lot to take in.” Rick calmly stated, “Most people have the same reaction.”

As they approached the short grey haired woman serving people slices of meat and bowls of vegetables, the nausea sitting in Shannon’s stomach was quickly replaced by a gnawing hunger. All fears and concerns suddenly flew out the window and all she cared about was shoveling that food in her mouth as soon as possible.

“Shannon, Tyler… This is Carol.” Rick nodded at the food server who turned and smiled warmly at the two starving siblings.

“Hi there, hungry?”

Shannon wouldn’t normally touch food given by someone so willing to hand it over, but she had never needed something to eat so badly in her life. When the food was placed in her hands, she devoured it without a second thought. Her and Tyler must have looked like famished wild animals because without even asking, Carol provided them with seconds.

“You two must have been out there a long time,” Carol’s voice was thick with the kind of concern only a mother could convey.

With their mouths stuffed with food, all Shannon and Tyler could do was nod. Rick patiently waited until they had finished before he spoke again;

“You can come here to Carol twice a day to get meals. Showers are on the 2nd flood, It’s only cold water but it’s something. Daryl will show you to your sleeping space.” 

Shannon glanced over at the archer who didn’t look remotely pleased that he had to spend another second in their presence but Rick continued on anyways.

“Get yourself settled and cleaned up. Give yourself a few days to get use to the place. If for whatever reason this isn’t a good fit for either of you, you are welcome to leave at any time. If you’d like to stay, we can find some jobs for you. If you have any questions or concerns you can talk to me, or Carol or just about anyone. Most people are pretty friendly around here.”

Shannon couldn’t speak. Who were these angels? Bringing them in, feeding them, giving them a place to stay and sleep. It couldn’t be real, it had to be a dream. Or it was a trap. Maybe they would lure them into a false sense of security and then kill them. But before she could even humor that idea, she realized how ridiculous it sounded.

What would be the purpose of that? People were cruel, but not stupid. They wouldn’t just let the two of them wander the property, spend time with their people and eat their food just to kill them for no reason. Maybe, just maybe Tyler was right and good people really did still exist.

“Thank you so much for everything, Rick.” Tyler stuck his hand out which Rick firmly shook, “You’ve saved our lives. I promise you won’t regret it.”

Rick gave him the smallest of smiles and nodded, “I hope not. Let me know if you need anything.”

Rick had walked about 15 feet away from them before it finally dawned on Shannon how insane she must have looked. She had stood there like an idiot the entire time and when she wasn’t acting the mute she was pointing guns in people’s faces. She refused to let that be his first and only impression of her. Without allowing herself to think twice about it, Shannon darted forward to catch him. 

“Rick wait!”

The man stopped and turned towards the filthy blonde.

“I just,” Shannon paused trying to get her thoughts in order, “I wanted to say thank you, for everything. And I wanted to apologize. We haven’t run into many good natured people. Truth is, we haven’t run into ANY good people. So this all took me off guard.” Shannon paused to let him interject but he said nothing, “It doesn’t excuse my behavior but I just didn’t trust the situation.”

Shannon turned to look back at her brother who was clearly hitting it off with Carol and a few other people standing around. It was no surprise to Shannon. Tyler had a way of making everyone love him. She turned back to Rick who was patiently waiting for her to finish her thoughts.

“My brother Tyler means everything to me.” Shannon bit the inside of her cheek in an attempt to stop the emotions from shining through, “He’s all I have left. And between you and me, he can’t make it in this world on his own. He’s too sweet, too trusting, if the dead ones didn’t get him someone with a beating heart and evil intentions would." 

Rick nodded in understanding but still didn’t speak, almost sensing that Shannon had more to say. It took her by surprise when she continued on even after already spilling her guts to this stranger.

“I promise I will do everything in my power to provide for you and the people here. I’ll go on runs, I’ll do guard duty, I’ll wash the damn dishes, I’ll even leave if you want me to. Anything you need. As long as you promise you will keep my brother here and you will help keep him safe.” Shannon couldn’t stop the tears that had forced their way through but she blinked them back before they could fall from her eyes.

“I can’t promise that I can keep him safe,” Rick’s voice was strong but caring, “I can’t promise anyone that. But what I can promise is I will do everything I can to keep these walls up and to protect the people inside them.”

Shannon nodded fervently, “That’s fair. It’s the best I can hope for.”

Rick smiled kindly at her, “Good. Take care, Shannon. We’ll talk soon.”

Without waiting for a reply, Rick casually strolled off as if he didn’t have a care in the world. Shannon felt a sudden pang of jealousy as she watched him leave. It had been a long time since she had felt as calm and relaxed as he appeared. Somewhere deep in the back of her mind she hoped this place would help her get back to those ways.

When Rick was out of eyesight, she turned and headed back to her brother. She once again saw Daryl glaring at her as if she would pull her gun back out any second. She honestly couldn’t blame him for looking at her that way, but her typical human emotions overshadowed her logic and made her glare back.

Even when the world ends, some things never change, like hating someone when you really are the one to blame.

Daryl quickly ran his eyes over her, before turning and walking towards the prison, “Let’s go.”

Shannon rolled her eyes before gesturing for her brother to follow. Tyler smiled and waved good-bye to Carol and a few others before joining his sister.

“Making friends already?”

“One of us should, and I doubt you’ll be any good at it.” Tyler teased. Shannon jokingly shoved him.

He wasn’t wrong, but God knows it did nothing for her ego to hear it. Besides, there were more important things than making friends… Like finding food, and shelter, and breathing.

***

It was a short but complicated walk through the twists and turns of the prison but before they new it, the siblings were stopped behind Daryl who stood in front of two cells. He gestured his head towards them.

“You’ll sleep here.” He grunted.

There wasn’t much to them, relatively dark with blank walls, a twin sized cot and more than a few dust bunnies but Tyler looked as if he had been given a suite at a 5 Star hotel. 

“Thanks Man!” 

Tyler took no time at all exploring his new surroundings and making himself at home. Shannon took a casual glance at hers trying to shake off the growing feeling of claustrophobia threatening to take over.

Daryl didn’t plan on waiting for them to settle in. He was already turning to walk away when Shannon realized that as much as she didn’t want to, she had to apologize to Daryl. 

“Wait!”

Daryl stopped in his tracks but it took a few beats before he turned back to face her. He cocked an eyebrow at her, waiting, not so patiently, to find out what she possibly needed to say. Shannon bit her lower lip racking her brain to find the right words. The two watched each other in awkward silence for longer than felt comfortable.

“Yeah?” Daryl finally broke the silence, anxious to move on with his day.

“I just wanted to apologize for before. For, you know, pointing a gun at you.” 

She paused hoping he would say something, but just as Rick did before, he just waited for her to continue. 

“We haven’t come across very many friendly people so my guard was up. And you had your bow pointed at my brother, so it was justified.” Shannon took a reluctant breath before continuing her thought, “But I still need to apologize since I don’t want to potentially start a life here on the wrong foot with people.”

Again, Shannon waited for a reply but Daryl just continued to stare back. Shannon let out a frustrated sigh.

“Nothing to add?”

Daryl just shrugged in return, keep his piercing blue eyes trained on her. Shannon bit her tongue trying desperately to keep herself from saying something she would regret. Without being able to think of anything else remotely nice to say, Shannon decided a good-bye was her safest option;

“Alright then, see you around.”

Daryl hesitated for the shortest of moments before turning on his heel and bee-lining down the hall. Shannon rolled her eyes and leaned against the doorway to Tyler’s cell.

“Well he’s pleasant.” Shannon remarked sarcastically.

“He’s probably been through a lot. Give him some credit.” Tyler laid back on the prison cot looking like he couldn’t be more comfortable.

“Everyone’s been through a lot. It doesn’t give him the right to be an asshole.” 

“Maybe a pretty blonde girl broke his heart once and now he’s taking it all out on you.” Tyler teased with a wicked grin on his face.

Shannon attempted to hide her subtle blush by rolling her eyes and turning away. As she headed into her own cell she called back over her shoulder;

“Not everyone needs a reason to be an asshole. Some people are just born that way.”

“Whatever you say, sis.”

***

It had to be close to three in the morning and Shannon still couldn’t sleep. She tossed, she turned, she tried clearing her mind, she tried counting sheep, she tried everything she could think of, but no matter what she did it still felt like the walls were closing in on her.

She was use to not being able to sleep, being alert to every movement, every sound, being prepared to throw herself into fight mode every second of every day, but this was different. She was supposedly safe here but no matter how many times she reminded herself that she couldn’t shake this unsteady feeling.

Every breath she took felt like not enough air was getting into her lungs and it was putting her on the cusp of a full blown panic attack. She couldn’t stay in this cell.

Shannon abruptly sat up and looked around her sleeping quarters. She felt foolish for feeling this way. She had spent months alone with her brother in various shelters, most much more dangerous than her current situation. If anything this should have been the best night sleep she ever had. So why couldn’t she rest?

Shannon stood and cautiously tiptoed to the doorway. Leaning slightly forward she listened carefully for any unusual noises or sounds of people walking about. After 5 or so minutes of only the sounds of occasional light snoring or the deep breathing of one in a dreamless sleep did she decide it was safe. Arming herself with her hunting knife and throwing on a sweatshirt she decided a walk outside would be the perfect cure for her insomnia.

Using every ounce of skill she had to learn out in the woods, Shannon tried to be as near silent as a mouse walking through the damp, cold walls of the prison. She already felt a little better than she had lying wide awake in her cell. But after a few turns down the wrong hallway did she realize she had absolutely no idea how to get outside.

Everything looked the same and it certainly didn’t help that it was pitch black. She tried feeling along the walls but that proved to be as useless as wandering around aimlessly. She paused by a set of stairs, racking her brain trying to remember how they got in so that she could backtrack when she heard the softest sound of a shoe scraping against the floor. It was barely noticeable, so much so she questioned herself whether she had made up the sound in her head.

She felt her heart beat quicken but she worked hard to keep her breathing under control. She prided herself on learning to stay calm even when she was terrified. As smoothly as she could, she reached down and grasped her hunting knife in her hands. She had barely pulled it from her pocket when she felt a warm breath graze across her neck. Before giving herself a second to think things through, Shannon whipped around ready to stab the life out of whoever dared to sneak up behind her.

“What the hell?” A rough voice she barely recognized and a calloused hand grabbing her wrist were the only things that stopped her from making a huge mistake. As Shannon’s eyes adjusted to the darkness, she saw two piercing blue eyes glaring down at her.

“Daryl?!” Shannon gasped out in a frightened breath, “What the hell are you doing here?”

“Me? The hell are you doing here?” It was barely above a whisper but the accusation rang in Shannon’s ears.

“Going for a walk. Is that a crime around here?” Shannon met his glare with a fierce look of her own.

“Awful suspicious you just getting here and sneaking out this time of night.”

Having nothing appropriate to respond with Shannon just continued to glare back at him. _“Well this is certainly strike two with this guy.”_ Shannon thought to herself. It was only then did she realize that Daryl still had a tight grip on her wrist. She attempted to pull back only to be met with resistance.

“Wanna give me my hand back, please? Or are you enjoying holding it?” 

Daryl let go of her wrist so quickly it was as if it was burning him. Shannon rapidly pulled it to her chest in case he changed his mind about letting her go. 

“What were you following me or something?” Shannon felt intense anger start to bubble up in her chest. When he didn’t respond she couldn’t stop herself from jumping down his throat, “And you think I’m suspicious? Do you watch all the newbies around here or am I just special?”

Shannon couldn’t engage this silent man in their unofficial staring contest any longer, so having nothing left to say, Shannon turned to head down the stairs. She hadn’t even taken a single step before she felt a firm hand on her shoulder. Shannon had officially lost her patience.

“Are you seriously touching me again?” she hissed.

“Ain’t about to let you walk around alone while my people are sleeping.”

“Fine. Then just show me how to get outside.”

When all that followed was more silence, Shannon reluctantly turned back towards the tense archer. 

“It’s either that or I try to find the door to the outside… alone… while _your_ people sleep.” Shannon instantly regretted putting so much venom behind such an innocent word but she was annoyed, tired, and sick of his shit.

She did have to give the guy credit, he had the best poker face she had ever seen. She watched his stone cold face as the wheels of decision were turning in his head. It was the first time she found herself studying his face and she was surprised when she noticed that he looked as tired as she did. But a different kind of tired, this man looked emotionally exhausted. As if every sad thought, every moment of fear, every single concern had drained the life from him.

“Follow me.”

Shannon snapped back to attention, nearly forgetting why she was standing with him in the first place. Too struck by her unexpected sympathy for this seemingly unfeeling man, all she managed to do was nod. Without another word, Daryl led her through the maze that was the inside of the her cell block. She never thought something so structured could be so complicated.

The moment she felt the cool air hit her face, Shannon forgot about any negative emotion she had felt within the past 24 hours. She had never been so grateful to be back outside. She pushed herself through the door and took a few quick steps until she felt herself surrounded by that crisp breeze. She let her eyes flutter shut and took as many deep breaths as she could manage without feeling dizzy.

The euphoria of being out of the prison didn’t last as long as she hoped and she felt the high slip away. She wrapped her arms around herself and tried to ignore the knowing feeling of those blue eyes still staring at her. She had spent so much time not trusting anyone and hating people before she even met them, it felt a little strange to be on the receiving end of it. Call her a hypocrite but she despised it. She felt her thoughts form into spoken words before she could stop herself;

“I’m not a bad person. You don’t have to treat me like one.”

Shannon couldn’t hear Daryl behind her but she could feel that he was still there. She tried to swallow the lump that was forming in her throat, “I’m not really a good person either. But I’m not a bad person.”

She thought it was possible that he hadn’t heard. That maybe he slipped away and she was talking to the wind, until she heard a soft voice respond;

“Why don’t you think you’re a good person?”

Shannon turned around to find Daryl closer than she thought he was. Normally it would frighten her how easily he could sneak up behind her but she was too lost in her own thoughts to care. She looked up to meet his eyes, they no longer seemed to be angrily piercing through her, they were now more cautious and curious. Still not warm or friendly but no longer cold at least.

“I’ve done a lot of things I’m not proud of.”

“We’ve all done things,” Daryl shrugged. “Did you have good reasons for the things you did?”

Shannon thought about it for a moment, thought of all the cruel things she felt she had done, the people she left behind, those she had hurt, the things that kept her up at night, the memories she tried so hard to erase. She ran them through her head and they all resulted in similar reasons. She did it to survive, to protect her brother, to save others. She never did anything to be cruel or because she wanted to, she only did things when she had to. It didn’t make her feel alright about herself but it somehow made her feel better.

“Yeah, guess I did.”

Daryl only nodded in return. Shannon ran her eyes over his face searching for some kind of sign that she could trust this mysterious man. She couldn’t see anything, but then again she no longer trusted her sight, only her instincts. All she knew now is she desperately wanted to have people back in her life, she wanted to trust again, she wanted to care again.

“We got off on the wrong foot. We should start over.” Shannon stuck out her hand, Daryl looked down at it questioningly before hesitantly following her lead.

“Hi I’m Shannon Callahan,” she tried to give the friendliest smile she could manage, “I hate long walks on the beach, I’m a sucker for a good romantic comedy, and I miss wine more than you can possibly imagine. And you are?”

“Daryl Dixon.”

“Whoa slow down. I won’t be able to remember all that.”

Daryl’s lips barely rose but it was enough of a smile to appease Shannon. “Nice to meet you, Daryl.”

Shannon released her hand from Daryl’s grip. Suddenly feeling self conscious she dropped her eyes to the floor.

“We don’t have to like each other. Hell, we don’t even have to talk to each other. But you all seem like decent people around here and I refuse to let any of you think differently of me. I was a good person once. I’d like to be that way again if it’s not too late.”

Shannon looked back up to see Daryl still watching her but his features had softened just enough that she took it as a potential good sign.

“Now if you don’t mind showing me back to my cell. I think it’s time I got some sleep.”


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a short chapter here. Things have been going a little slow in this story so far but I promise there will be some action and drama coming up very soon!  
> ***

Shannon sat down on the grass and took a deep breath, the cool night air filling her lungs and easing her mind. A week had passed since that first evening she had spent in this same spot but sleeping still hadn’t come to her any easier. Shannon pulled her legs to her chest and wrapped her arms around her knees. She liked it out here. She liked the quiet, the cool air, the alone time.

She listened carefully to the soft sounds of the wind in the trees, the occasional noises from one of the barn animals, and sometimes, if she got lucky, she would hear a cricket or two. She was happy out here. She even contemplated once or twice dragging a sheet and pillow out here and making this her new sleeping arrangements. The only thing standing in her way was the fear of getting caught.

Shannon was never one to care about what other people thought of her, but she was still new and still a bit hesitant around the others. She was trying her best, she even felt like she was really making some ground with people, potentially making some future friends in the mix. But she still often flinched too harshly if someone startled her, she had even pulled out her knife a couple of times. Her sharp hearing had picked up a few hushed words spoken about her. It didn’t bother her so much, but she couldn’t risk the possibility that people might want to kick her and Tyler out.

Luckily not everyone was as wary of her, she suspected there were quite a few people here who had never braved the outside world and just didn’t understand her. But the handful who experienced it first hand, they were the ones helping her feel more welcome, well most of them at least. Despite her edgy ways, she had started to grow use to the safety in numbers and the comfort in the fences.

Tyler on the other hand had taken like a fish to water in this place. He had already made quite a few friends and considered this new place his home. She couldn’t risk getting all of that ripped from their arms just because people thought she was a little odd. And even though Shannon didn’t think so, someone might think sleeping alone outside would fall under the “odd” category.

Suddenly Shannon heard a soft noise, something different than the normal late night music she often relaxed too. It was a small shuffling sound, a sound she had heard once or twice before. She had a feeling she knew what it was but hadn’t dared called attention to it before. But Shannon felt differently tonight, maybe it was the satisfyingly full stomach, or maybe it was the few nights in a row she finally managed to get a couple hours of sleep, or maybe it was because for once she would like the company.

“I know you’re there, Daryl.” Shannon lightly called over her shoulder, “You can come and join me if you’d like.”

Shannon rested her head on her knees and continued to gaze out across the field of crops and scanned her eyes along the momentarily quiet woods. She tried to hide the small smile that was trying to break through the surface when she felt the presence of Daryl sit down beside her on the grass. She tried to give him a shred of dignity by letting him be the first to speak;

“How’d you know I was there?”

Shannon couldn’t stop the grin anymore, she finally gave him a quick knowing glance before turning her eyes back to the horizon.

“You’re not as sneaky as you think you are. That or I just have excellent instincts. But I’m betting on both.” Shannon heard Daryl let out a huff of breath so she looked back at him.

“I’ve heard you follow me a couple of times. I just chose to ignore you.”

Whether Daryl felt perplexed or embarrassed by her confession, Shannon couldn’t tell. He kept his features sharp in his usual poker face fashion. Shannon hugged her knees a little tighter and gazed back out. The two sat in comfortable stillness for a short bit. Shannon was letting her eyes flutter shut as she took in the sounds of silence when Daryl chimed in again;

“Still can’t sleep?”

Shannon was surprised by his question, more or less because his tone had the slightest hint of concern. Opening her eyes but keeping her head resting on her knees she decided to humor her guest by engaging in the small talk.

“I get a couple of hours here and there. But haven’t gotten a full night’s rest yet.”

“How come?”

“I’ve always had trouble sleeping. I’ve struggled with insomnia since I was a kid,” Shannon looked over at the archer to find he was watching her with furrowed eyebrows, as if he truly cared about her answer, “Being out there alone for so long didn’t help. The constant threat of danger or death kinda ruins your sleeping habits.”

Daryl didn’t laugh at her poor excuse for humor, “You weren’t alone.”

“Might as well have been.” Shannon bit her lower lip hard, immediately regretting letting such a harsh truth escape her lips, “My brother is a really smart kid. He has a lot of talents and skills… It’s just that none of his abilities quite fit the job description of an apocalypse survivor. He tried really hard to do what he could, but it was impossible to sleep when he was keeping watch. I just always had this awful feeling that if I dozed off something, or worse, someone would attack. It’s hard to shake those feelings long enough to get some real sleep. And now, no matter how many times I remind myself that we’re safe, that I’m not alone anymore, it’s impossible to get the message to my brain entirely. I guess that’s why I feel better when I’m out here. It reminds me that we’re ok. Helps me relax a little.”

Daryl nodded slowly in understanding. Shannon wasn’t positive, but she could sense he had been in similar situations with people. He didn’t seem like the type to rest easy when someone else was in charge of keeping everyone safe.

“But since you seem so chatty tonight I have a few questions for you.” Shannon met Daryl’s raised eyebrow with a smirk, “You know why I’m out here, what the hell are you doing out here? Or more importantly, why are you creepily watching me from afar?”

When she saw a faint pink color rise to Daryl’s ears she knew she was finally starting to break the stone-like archer. Although incredibly, his face remained unchanging. 

“Were you worried about me?” Shannon grinned teasingly, but when Daryl didn’t grin back her face fell. “Or do you still not trust me?”

“Nah it’s not that.”

“Then why?”

Daryl only shrugged, “I dunno. Guess I was just wondering what you were doing.”

“You could be a normal human being and ask me.”

“I’m better at following people than talking to them.”

Shannon wasn’t entirely sure if he was joking or not but it made her chucking nonetheless.

“You said you had a few questions. What else ya wanna know?”

Shannon released her arms from her knees and switched to a cross legged position, giving her the ability to look at him straight on. She felt him inch away from her a little but she tried not to take it too personally.

“When do I get assigned a job?”

“When do you want one?”

“As soon as possible. I’m sick of feeling useless around here. This wandering around chit chatting with people is getting exhausted. I need to be busy, I need to feel like I’m contributing.”

Daryl nodded, “I’ll talk to Rick. Let him know you’re ready.”

“What about Tyler?”

“Yeah, he’ll get a job too.”

Shannon hesitated for a moment trying to build up the courage to speak her next thoughts. She absentmindedly started pulling at the grass beneath her like she use to do when she was a little girl.

“Can I ask for a favor?” Shannon held her breath half expecting him to turn her down before she even had the opportunity to ask. When she realized he was waiting for her to continue she exhaled a little too quickly making her words come out jumbled and frantic sounding;

“Whatever job you give him. Could it please be within the fences? He’s no use to anyone outside. He can’t hunt or fight and he won’t even if he was properly trained. He’s not useless though! He’s really smart and organized and good with numbers. Do you have a system in place for rations? He could do that. Or maybe tending to the animals? He could do that. Or…”

Daryl held up his hand, silently gesturing for her to stop. Shannon felt her cheeks burn from embarrassment.

“Everyone gets a job based on their skills. If he ain’t good out there, he won’t be doing that. I’ll talk to Rick, make sure he understands.”

Shannon felt her entire body relax. She hadn’t realized how stressed she had been about this until she felt the anxious energy leave her body in that one sentence.

“Thank you. You have no idea how much that means to me.”

Daryl fidgeted awkwardly, “Yeah, well it ain’t really for you. Just the rules. I don’t make ‘em.”

Shannon swallowed hard, “Right, of course.”

The silence continued from there but Shannon didn’t mind. She had already talked the poor guy’s ear off. This was better. Or at least it was until Daryl spoke again;

“What about you?”

“Excuse me?”

“What kind of job do you want?”

Shannon’s mind was a blank. She had spent so much time brainstorming what her brother could do she in return hadn’t even given her own options a second thought.

“Honestly I don’t really care. Just as long as it can keep me busy.”

“What are you good at?”

Shannon didn’t mean to but she laughed. She had never really considered herself “good” at anything. Mediocre at best at a random variety of things. But she tried to think up a few skills so that she didn’t end up being in charge of laundry or something awful.

“Well, I’m a pretty good shot. I was part of a gun club before the world ended so that’s something I guess.” Shannon racked her brain, “Uh, I was a runner. Not professional at all I just ran in high school and ran a lot for exercise. So I have decent endurance and I’m pretty fast. I can’t hunt for shit, but I was good at scavenging. I have a pretty solid way of figuring out where to find things. I know how to cook and with enough drinks in me I rock at karaoke. But I guess that’s about it.”

“Alright we can work with that.”

Shannon breathed a subtle sigh of relief and let her gaze wander back over to the horizon which she noticed was starting to see the early signs of morning light stretching across the sky.

“I guess we were out here longer than I thought. We should head inside.”

Daryl nodded and stood up offering his hand to Shannon to help her up. The two headed back to the cell block in silence and only gave partial waves when they went to their separate sleeping quarters. It wasn’t much but it was nice to have a casual conversation with someone again. She mentally added Daryl to her list of potential friends before finally letting sleep over take her.


	4. Chapter 4

It was uncomfortably hot that day. One of those thickly, humid days that just makes you want to sleep in the shade. So much so everyone seemed to be moving at a much slower pace than normal. Shannon on the other hand was feeling restless.

Another week had past and she still hadn’t heard from anyone regarding a job assignment. She kept trying to tell herself it was because they were just busy and Rick probably took his time with each new person trying to find the right job for them. But a little voice inside her head kept nagging at her and feeding her negative thoughts that she tried with great effort to shake away.

Shannon shielded her eyes from the sun and gazed across the open area trying to seek out her brother. She finally spotted him sitting at one of the tables near the food station. Per usual, he was sitting with a few others, smiling and laughing.

She gave the plan of going to see him a second thought but she forced her feet to keep moving. She had to start talking to people if she wanted others to like her, and she needed them to like her in order for her to stay.

“Shannon! Hey!” Tyler enthusiastically waved her over as he saw her approach.

Shannon plastered the biggest smile she could manage on and sat down next to her chatty sibling, “Hey, who are your friends?”

Tyler grinned and gestured to each person, “You know Tyreese, we met him on our first day.”

Tyreee gave Shannon a warm smile that instantly helped her feel less tense.

“And this is Carl, Rick’s son. And Carl’s friend Patrick.”

Shannon did her best to look pleased, “Nice to meet you guys.”

The young boys nodded politely in response before returning to their conversation with Tyler which had something to do video games or something Shannon had absolutely no idea about.

Feeling awkward and out of place, Shannon felt the urge to get up and leave until Tyreese’s kind voice broke her away from her thoughts.

“How are you adjusting to the place?”

Shannon glanced up at the giant teddy bear of a man, “Alright I guess. It’s definitely an adjustment but I’m starting to get the routine of how things work around here.”

“That’s good. “Tyreese smiled, “It was rough for us at first too, but you get the hang of it and everyone really becomes your family around here.”

“Us?”

“My sister and I.”

“Oh you have a sister!” Shannon felt strangely intrigued by this new information, “I had no idea. It’s nice to know there are other siblings around here.”

“It’s partly why I felt okay about you two right off the bat. Maybe I’m biased,” Tyreese chuckled a little at his confession, “But it hadn’t been too long since my sister and I showed up here desperate for shelter. People can be stand offish at first, but I promise when you get to know them they’ll always have your back.”

It was nice to hear from someone who had been in a similar situation. Shannon felt relief flood her insides but couldn’t put those feelings into proper words so she hoped that Tyreese could just understood how grateful she was for his kindness.

“That makes me feel a lot better,” Shannon smiled softly at him “I was beginning to think people were afraid of me.”

Tyreese shook his head, “Not you personally. People are afraid of everyone until they get to know them these days.”

Before Shannon had a chance to respond she saw Tyler stand up and felt him tap her on the shoulder. 

“I’m going for a walk, you want to come?”

“Yeah,” Shannon turned back to Tyreese as she stood from the table, “It was really nice talking to you Tyreese. And thanks for making me feel better.”

Tyreese grinned, “Anytime. I’ll introduce you to my sister Sasha soon.”

“I’d like that.” Shannon called over her shoulder as she followed her brother across the lawn. The hot sun was beating down on her with a vengeance and it felt excruciating. Shannon gathered up her hair into a high pony tail in hopes of relieving some of the heat.

“It’s good to see you making an effort to get out and talk to people,” Tyler remarked giving her an encouraging nudge.

“I’ve been talking to plenty of people,” Shannon responded defensively, “Making friends just doesn’t come as easily to me as it does to you.”

“That’s because you get in your own head. You think everyone hates you but you’re awesome and all the others are going to see that if you give them the chance to get to know you!”

Shannon rolled her eyes, “I don’t need everyone to like me. That’s too much work. Just a few people to talk to is all I need.”

Out of the corner of her eye Shannon noticed Daryl sitting under a tree appearing to be deeply focused working on something. 

“As a matter of fact I already have a couple of people I talk to.” Shannon flipped her pony tail over her shoulder in mock confidence.

Tyler chuckled, “Oh yeah? Who?”

Shannon nodded towards the lone redneck, “Daryl.”

Tyler stopped walking and lifted his eyebrows in disbelief, “Daryl?”

Shannon nodded and nonchalantly leaned against one of the guard towers.

“The guy you called an unredeemable asshole two weeks ago?”

“Apparently he’s redeemable.” 

Tyler laughed and shook his head, “You never fail to surprise me. Oh! And speaking of surprises, I got my job assignment today.”

Shannon returned his enthusiastic grin with a tight hug, “That’s great! What are you doing?”

“I’m in charge of figuring out a better system for all the food and supplies rations. I guess they have something in place but it hasn’t been that reliable. They want to be able to know exactly what we have and how long it will go for. Kinda perfect for me really.”

Shannon tried to hide her grin not wanting to give away that she had suggested something along those lines for him, “I’m really happy for you, Tyler.”

“Have you heard anything yet?”

Shannon’s heart sank when the sudden realization came to mind. She fought back the panic that was threatening to emerge when she shook her head. The ever optimistic Tyler only shrugged;

“You’ll probably hear today or tomorrow. It’s not like there are a million candidates going after one job. They kinda need everyone they can get.”

“That’s true,” Shannon swallowed some of her worry and tried to unclench her fists. Seeing this, Tyler reached over and gave his sister’s hand a small comforting squeeze.

“I hate to run but I did promise that I would check in after I eat so I could start on the job right away.”

“Yeah go ahead. I’ll see you tonight.”

Tyler smiled in response before quickly walking off towards the prison. Shannon watched him go, trying to distract herself from that inner voice that wanted to tell her they hadn’t assigned her a job because they were going to kick her out.

She bit her tongue and told herself that it was ridiculous but the feeling was still there. She turned back around with the intention of heading back to her cell to escape the heat when she saw Daryl still sitting alone under that shady tree.

She contemplated going to say hi. They spoke almost every night, so why not during the daytime hours? She considered the possibility that it might help ease her concerns by spending time with another person instead of being alone with her thoughts. Shannon stood a little taller, proud of herself for making the effort and headed right towards the unsuspecting archer. 

“Hey there stranger.”

Daryl glanced up at the blonde, “Hey.”

Shannon looked down at the project he appeared to be working diligently on. She took in the thick sticks piled high next to his bow. A few scattered arrows lying in front of him.

“Are you making new arrows?”

Daryl nodded, “Yeah. Have to. They ain’t exactly easy to find.”

“Are they hard to make?”

“Nah. Just takes awhile.”

Shannon nodded, silently wishing bullets could be made with a few pieces of wood and some patience. “Mind if I sit with you? It’s hot as hell and it looks like you have some decent shade.”

Daryl moved over leaving some extra space in the shade. Shannon took that as a sign that she was welcome to join and sat down next to him. The two sat in silence for quite awhile but Shannon didn’t mind. She came to find that it was just his company she enjoyed. They didn’t need to have long conversations on the meaning of life or anything, sometimes it was just nice not to be alone. She watched him with strange fascination as he shaved down the wood.

“Makes me wish I had paid attention in wood shop class.” Shannon thought out loud.

“Don’t need school for this,” Daryl gruffly responded.

“How did you learn then?”

He shrugged in return, “Dunno. Guess you just figure it out by watching people.”

From the near distance the sound of someone approaching pulled both of them from their thoughts and the two looked up to see a young man of asian decent approach. Shannon had seen him around but hadn’t made a point to introduce herself. He stopped abruptly in front of the two.

“Are you Shannon?”

She nodded her head. Her curiosity peaked as to why someone would be seeking her out.

“Hi I’m Glenn,” he gave her a small smile. “I’m one of the people in charge of putting together teams for runs and Rick said you would be a great addition.”

Shannon jumped up instantly, “Is that my job assignment?”

“Yeah, I suppose it is.”

Shannon hadn’t grinned so wide since before she could remember. She felt the urge to throw her arms around Glenn but held back her excitement in an effort to not look like an insane person. From behind she could sense Daryl slowly stand up as well. She turned to give him a quick grin before turning back to Glenn;

“Excellent! What do you need me to do?”

“Well, we have a small group going out tomorrow. We could use one more if you’re up for it.”

“Absolutely! Count me in!”

Glenn smiled and made an attempt to continue on with the details but the two were interrupted by a stern voice from behind.

“I don’t think that’s a good idea.”

Shannon felt all the joy leave her body at once as she turned to glance at the tense looking Daryl. She had to have heard him wrong, there must be a misunderstanding. She tried to catch his eyes but he was actively avoiding her gaze. Glenn gave him him a confused look.

“Why not?”

Daryl hesitated for well over a minute before responding, “She’s still new. She shouldn’t be out doing something like that just yet.”

Glenn raised an eyebrow, “How come?”

“We don’t know if we can trust her.”

Shannon’s heart completely sunk and she couldn’t hide the devastated feelings from appearing on her face. Just when she thought she had actually found someone she felt comfortable enough around to trust, she found out she was entirely wrong. She felt so stupid, she felt so angry at not only herself but this jerk who didn’t even have the decency to look at her while he said these things. Glenn stood there dumbfounded for a moment.

“Well, Rick says she can do it and he seems to think she’s alright so I’m sure she’ll be fine.” Glenn said timidly

Shannon broke her silence refusing to let this traitor be the reason she gets kicked out, “Yeah I can absolutely do it. I’m great at scavenging. I promise I will be a great addition to your team.”

Shannon tried to shake off her nerves and give Glenn a confident smile which he returned right away.

“Great! We leave at sunrise so that we can have as much daylight as possible. Meet us at the front gate.”

Shannon opened her mouth but was quickly interrupted by Daryl’s rough voice;

“I’ll come too.”

“You’re not scheduled for tomorrow’s run.”

“Don’t matter,” Daryl responded firmly, “I’m going.”

Shannon was beyond upset now, she was filled with a fiery rage hotter than the heat that surrounded them. She reluctantly bit her tongue to avoid exploding. She finally got a job, she wasn’t about to lose it by embarrassing herself in front of the guy vouching for her. Glenn looked from Shannon to Daryl not sure how to respond.

“Alright, the more we have the better I guess. See you both tomorrow.” And with the smallest of waves Glenn hurried off.

Shannon didn’t wait for him to be out of sight before starting to storm off herself. She had barely taken the first few steps before Daryl’s hesitant voice stopped her;

“Shannon…” 

She whipped around and angrily fired back before letting him finish his thoughts.

“What is your problem? I just don’t get it!” Shannon couldn’t hold back her rage, “If you had a problem with me you have had plenty of opportunities to say something. How dare you try to make me look bad after my only chance to finally become part of this community.”

Daryl looked down at the almost finished arrow in his hands actively avoiding eye contact. The lack of reaction only made her more furious causing Shannon to continue on with her tangent.

“Here I was thinking we were becoming friends and all along you still don’t trust me. What, were you just keeping an eye on me this whole time? Waiting for me to do something to one of your people? Why not just have me kicked out then? What were you waiting for?”

Shannon stopped to take a breath. She half hoped he would say something, give her a good reason why he tried to stop her from going on the run. But her hopes were crushed when the silent archer sat back down under the tree and started back up working on his arrow.

Shannon clenched her jaw tightly. This was why she didn’t trust people even before the world fell apart. People were unreliable, people were liars, people were selfish, people were the worst. Shannon turned on her heel and stormed off without another word.

As she headed towards the prison she could have sworn she heard the sound of a freshly made arrow being snapped in half.

***

Hours later Shannon found herself still staring up at the ceiling of her cell. Sleep never came easy but it felt impossible tonight. The thoughts overtaking her mind were stronger than a hurricane. All the different emotions crashing down threatening to drown her.

Overwhelming was an understatement. She was nervous about the run tomorrow. It had been a long time since she went with a group and the situation had never been like this. She really wanted to prove herself. She wanted to show Glenn that Rick was right and she would make a good team member. She also wanted to prove Daryl wrong.

_Daryl_

Just thinking about him again made her want to scream into her pillow. Shannon had no idea why it was bothering her so much. She barely knew the guy. So what if he turned out to not be as good of a guy as she hoped? She had dealt with men a lot worse before the apocalypse, so why was this anti-social red neck bugging her so much? She didn’t know, she didn’t care, she didn’t want to think about it. And speaking of not caring, she was sick of caring so much. What did it matter if people liked her or not? This was about survival.

Shannon made up her mind then that she wanted to sleep outside. Screw anyone who thought it was odd. Shannon roughly pulled the blanket and pillow from her bunk and gathered it in her arms. She grabbed her backpack and shoved the few things she knew she would need for the run and headed towards the exit.

Shannon slowed her speed as she approached the doorway. It was only in that moment the question of where she would sleep arose in her mind. She couldn’t go to her usual spot, she didn’t want to risk the chance of running into Daryl. Shannon leaned her head against the cool bars on the doorway and groaned.

_“You could go to the meeting spot."_ The idea danced across her mind and she seriously considered it. It would be guaranteed she wouldn’t be late if she slept there and it would make for a great start to prove she was valuable. With a new found determination Shannon quietly marched herself out of her cell.

As she headed for the hallway, the sound of soft snoring stopped her in her tracks. Turning slowly, Shannon peaked into the familiar cell and saw a deeply sleeping Tyler sprawled out on his bunk. Shannon chuckled to herself realizing he slept the same now as he did when he was a child. A deep sadness from such a peaceful, nostalgic memory washed over her. She longed for such an innocent time back and she would kill for her brother to be able to have the opportunity to have a normal life again. It wasn’t possible so she could only hope for small things.

Shannon wasn’t sure if she believed in a higher power anymore but sometimes in moments such as these, she occasionally asked for things just in case someone was listening.

“Please keep him safe while I’m gone.” Shannon whispered before blowing a kiss to her sleeping little brother. With one final glance, she readjusted her backpack over her shoulder and headed towards the front gate.

***

The thick air was still humid but much more tolerable than the daytime hours had been. Shannon was at least grateful for that. She tried to slow her movements when she noticed someone up high in the guard tower keeping watch. She froze when the unknown guard looked down at her. She held her breath as she feared the worst, but to her unexpected delight, all that came from the guard was a slight wave before they set their sights back on the horizon, Shannon released her breath.

_“All that worrying for nothing.”_ Shannon thought, _“I could have been sleeping out here this whole time.”_

She stepped around the area until she found a somewhat soft patch of grass that she could form into a makeshift mattress for the night. Tossing her pillow down and lowering herself to the earth felt like the best decision she had made in ages. Allowing the warm breeze and the wide open area dull her senses and making her feel serene. It couldn’t have been more than five minutes before she felt the sweet bliss of deep sleep overtake her.

***

_Blood. Everywhere. It was hard to look at but even harder to turn away. Shannon’s mouth stayed open in a silent scream as she watched the man who had protected her, the man who loved her, being ripped to shreds in front of her. The dead ones each reaching for a different part of him to claim for their feast. She heard Tyler screaming out her name and felt his desperate attempts to make her run but she couldn’t take her eyes away from the horrific scene._

_“You can’t save him.” Tyler cried out and she knew he was right but she couldn’t let him die like that. Her hands shook aggressively as she lifted her gun and pointed it at her Father’s head. She took a deep breath to steady her aim and ignored the tears that steamed down her face as she pulled the trigger._

Shannon burst from her nightmare with a start. Her body overtaken with an uncontrollable shake. She sat up abruptly trying to separate herself from the linger visuals of the memory as quickly as possible.

She placed her trembling fingers over her heart and tried to slow her breathing. She tried to tell herself that everything was okay, but that was a lie. She tried to tell herself to forget it, but it wasn’t so simple. It’s already hard to forget a nightmare, but it’s impossible to erase a memory that haunts you. But she kept on breathing because it was all she could do, and she kept on lying to herself that she was okay, because it was the only thing that worked.

Once she felt her heart beat begin to return to normal she took a moment to take in her surroundings. It took a second for her foggy brain to remember that she had spent the night outside. With relief, she noticed the night sky was only just starting to see the beginnings of morning creeping in over the horizon. She would have been mortified if anyone had seen her in this state.

“Shannon?”

Apparently she had spoken too soon. Shannon turned to see Daryl approaching her. Even better, the last person she wanted to see. She jumped from her makeshift bed and started attempting to fold her blanket but her trembling fingers made it an impossible task so she gave in and simply shoved the blanket and pillow in her backpack. As she tried to keep up the facade of being cool and calm, she could feel Daryl’s burning eyes watching her.

“Did you sleep here all night?”

Shannon took her time rearranging everything in her backpack before finally turning to address the concerned looking man.

“Yeah. Wanted to make sure I wasn’t late for the run.”

All that followed was silence between them and for the first time in a long time, it felt really awkward. Fortunately the silence didn’t last too as she looked up to see three others approach.

She recognized Glenn right away and noticed a young woman with short brown hair casually holding his hand. Just behind the two apparent love birds was a very serious looking woman tightly clutching the large gun in both her hands, as if she expected something to jump out at her any minute. Glenn gave Shannon a tired smile as he approached.

“Morning. Thanks for being early.”

“Didn’t want to be late on my first run.” Shannon tried to look as relaxed as possible but she couldn’t help nervously pulling at the ends of her long hair. Silently cursing herself for forgetting to grab a rubber band or a shoelace to tie it back.

“This is my wife, Maggie.” Glenn gestured to the woman beside him.

“Pleased to meet you…”

“Shannon,” she stuck her hand out which Maggie shook back. “Nice to meet you too, Maggie.”

The serious looking woman stepped forward and stuck her hand out as well, “Hi, I’m Sasha.”

The familiarity of the name took a moment to sink in, “Oh your Tyreese’s sister! Nice to meet you. Our brothers are friends.”

Sasha smiled upon hearing that, “So that makes you Tyler’s sister. I’ve heard a lot about him. Seems like a nice kid.”

“He really is,” Shannon responded, pleased to hear good things were being said about her little brother.

“Sun’s almost up, we gotta move.” Daryl called over his shoulder as he headed towards the silver van parked in front of the gate.

Shannon had gotten use to the strange mix of old world things this group had. A community, working showers, hot meals, but she had to admit that a working car was something she never thought she would see again.

She hopped in without question and let this Glenn guy she met yesterday take her wherever they planned to go. Maybe she was desperate to fit in and be a part of this group, or maybe she was finally starting to trust people. She really hoped it was the latter.

The thirty or so minute drive was mostly in silence. Shannon couldn’t tell if everyone was still groggy from their early morning wake up call or if they still got nervous about these runs. It was a scary world out there so she couldn’t blame them. But whatever the reason she was grateful for the quiet. She didn’t feel up for the small talk at the moment, she just wanted to be able to focus on the task at hand.

It had been so long since Shannon had been in a moving vehicle that she was struggling to look out the window, fearing the car sickness threatening to start up deep in her stomach. Fortunately, before she knew it, Glenn was pulling up to a relatively large, reasonably intact looking general store. Only a few walkers seemed to be pacing on the outside and the store itself only appeared to have a few broken windows. Not bad under the circumstances.

“We haven’t hit this one yet so we all need to be carful. We don’t know what’s inside.” Glenn warned everyone before arming himself with a handgun and stepping out of the car. 

Shannon observed as everyone got in their own fight stance, eyes thoroughly sweeping the area, weapons trained forward, steps precise and careful. Without realizing it, she had been doing the same thing. It was just the way of the world, you learned as you go. Shannon watched as Daryl held out his hand, motioning for the others to stop. Using his bow he loudly rapped on the front door and jumped back, raising the bow back up again to his line of sight. When the group was satisfied by the lack of response from anything inside, they all got to work searching for anything that might be useful.

“Split up but everyone remain in hearing rage. Grab what you can and we’ll meet back in this main area.”

Everyone nodded at Glenn and took off in different directions without a word. Shannon took off down one of the aisles, triple checking her surroundings before getting down on her hands and knees and looking underneath the shelves. She smiled to herself when she found the various forgotten items lying there waiting for her. She shimmied her body as far as it would go and started pulling out the canned vegetables and soups.

“What the hell are you doing?”

The sharp voice startled Shannon enough to make her drop a can of green beans and to her dismay, watched as it rolled too far out of reach. She glared up at none other than the asshole himself, Daryl, staring at her with stern curiosity.

“Trying to get food for the group. What are you doing? Making sure I don’t have some secret evil plot to get everyone killed?” Shannon glanced around the aisle hoping to find a broom or something else long enough to be able to help her get the can back.

“Why’re you on the floor?”

Shannon huffed out in frustration, “I figured out awhile back that some places that haven’t been entirely picked over yet have some secret stashes. When it got bad early on and people were raiding stores, in their panic and rush people would drop things and they would roll away. No one would think to grab them because, at the time, there was still plenty of stuff on the shelves. So some things got left behind. I’ve found all kinds of food, medicine and more by looking underneath shelves. Now leave me alone, I’m trying to do my job.”

Shannon was so focused on trying to get the canned green beans she didn’t notice the quiet archer join her on the ground. He reached his much longer arm under the shelf and snatched the can that was just out of her reach. Without a word, he handed it back to her, his hand lingering just a moment too long before standing and leaving her fuming.

***

An hour or so later the small group was gathering back together taking a quick inventory of everything they had gathered. It was a decent amount of food and medicine. Shannon felt pleased with herself that a large number of the items in their pile were things she has personally found.

Glenn was thanking everyone for their hard work and starting to box up the items when Shannon heard the softest of sounds, almost like the creaking sound of an old door.

She quickly took in her surroundings to see who, or what could have made the noise. Glenn stood around the pile, Maggie and Sasha were sitting together by the stairs and Daryl leaned arms cross by the door. No one seemed to have moved or been around anything that could have made the sound.

Glenn continued to talk and Shannon wished he would just shut up for a second so she could hear better. But she didn’t dare say anything in case it was all in her head. She looked down at her worn sneakers in order to focus better. 

There it was again.

The same noise but closer. _“It can’t be a walker.”_ She thought to herself. _“They’re much louder, this is someone trying to be sneaky.”_ Just as Shannon lifted her eyes in Glenn’s direction did she notice a reflective light coming from the open doorway behind him. Shannon felt her heart beat speed up, her breathing stopped. She opened her mouth to say something, but it happened so fast.

A tall, filthy man holding a large sliver hunting knife with jagged edges burst from the doorway and headed straight for Glenn. Without giving herself time to think, Shannon sprinted forward and without so much as a gasp she shoved Glenn out of the man’s reach. 

She whipped herself around in an effort to get herself out of harm’s way but as she tried to run she felt a horrible sharp pain throughout her scalp. With horror, Shannon realized the man had grabbed her hair and was using it to pull her closer to him. She tried to pull back but she knew it was hopeless. She felt a large arm snatch her across her chest trapping her, the sharp point of the knife under her chin, and the overwhelming smell from the man as he whispered in her ear;

“Nice try, girl.”

Shannon silently cursed herself yet again for not remembering to tie her hair back. She looked up at the horrified looks from the other four. Glenn was still on the floor but had managed to crawl closer to Maggie. Sasha and Daryl had their weapons pointed at her capturer.

“Let her go,” Daryl growled.

The man’s arm squeezed Shannon tighter bringing her closer to his chest, “I’ve got a better idea. You give me all that fine stuff you gathered and maybe I’ll give her back.”

“Or you let her go and we let you live,” Sasha hissed in return.

“Oh now that don’t seem fair. Not to me at least.” The man looked from Sasha to Daryl and then down to Glenn and Maggie on the floor. “I see you have a nice car out front and ya’ll look clean and healthy. Seems to me you got a place to stay.”

The silence that followed was answer enough for him, “Tell ya what, you give me the stuff, the car and let me know where you come from and I’ll let her go. You know, so I can swing by with a few friends to properly thank ya’ll for the presents.”

Shannon looked around at the faces of the people she barely knew. She could tell they were thinking their options through. She could feel the arm holding her in place loosen up a bit. He was relaxing, he knew he had them right where he wanted them and that infuriated Shannon. She wasn’t going to let this disgusting person know where their home was, where Tyler was. She couldn’t allow it, she wouldn’t.

“No way! No deal!” Shannon cried out before she lost her courage, “Just kill me.”

Obviously this despicable stranger wasn’t expecting that response because the hand holding the knife jerked causing the slightest cut under her jawline. Shannon could only imagine it must have stung but with all the adrenaline running through her body, she couldn’t tell. Shannon looked down to the floor to avoid the panicked eyes surrounding her.

“I’m not worth it, they barely know me. I’m not worth risking their safety and their supplies. Just kill me if you have to. It won’t matter if I die.”

“Shannon! Stop!” Glenn cried out.

“No! The supplies are way more important.” Shannon tried to slow her breathing down, she had a few last things to say before accepting her fate. She looked up at each of the people she was only just starting to get to know. Reluctantly her eyes rested on the only one who would understand her final words. The usually stoic Daryl, partially hidden behind his bow, looked panicked. 

“Please don’t let anything happen to Tyler. Please be a family to him. Tell him that this new world is a better place with him in it and I’m so sorry I couldn’t see it through with him. Tell him how much I love him.”

“Well ain’t that sweet.” The man breathed into Shannon’s ear. She felt her body being whipped around and she found herself face to face with the armed and dangerous man. His dark eyes looking her up and down in a way that made Shannon’s stomach turn.

“You’re a pretty one.”

His breath filled Shannon’s nose with a putrid smell but she tried her best to keep still. The hand holding the knife gently stroked her neck where she could now see had the slightest trickle of blood oozing from it.

“It’d be a real waste to just kill you when I can think of some other things you’d be useful for.”

Shannon fought the nausea building up in her stomach. She tried as best she could to relax her face and fluttered her long lashes in his direction. She hoped with all her might that this guy was as stupid as he looked.

“Let my friends take their things and go and you can do whatever you want with me,” Shannon slowly lifted her hands letting one rest on his waist while the other inched closer to the knife she kept at her side. “What do you say?”

Shannon stifled the oncoming cringe as she saw the man lick his lower lip. Just as she felt his hands on her relax she instinctively shot her knee up as hard and as fast as she could so that it collided with the most sensitive area on his body. As he cried out in agony, Shannon stabbed him in his now exposed throat before darting back. As she ran back towards the door she saw an arrow shoot past her. She glanced over her shoulder just in time to see it land square in the forehead of her would be attacker.

Still riding on adrenaline and fear, Shannon didn’t stop running until she had gotten to the car. She leaned on the hood desperate to take in as many deep breaths as her body would allow. Hoping the breathing would prevent her from throwing up all over the van. The cool sweat running down her neck was little distraction to the tremble she felt throughout her whole body.

She was so focused that she nearly jumped a mile into the air when she felt a light hand on her shoulder. She whipped around to face the soft blue eyes she had been trying to avoid all day. A look of deep concern mixed with relief sat on his face.

She tried to tell him to leave her alone but the words refused to vocalize. She watched as he reached in his back pocket, pulled out a red handkerchief and slowly inched it towards her neck. Shannon tried to make her body move away, but it wouldn’t budge. With an unexpected tenderness, Daryl slowly wiped away the blood that was starting to dry on her neck.

Daryl glanced back up and looked straight into her eyes before turning and heading in the opposite direction. Shannon opened her mouth to speak but before she could rack her brain to think of something to say she felt herself being overwhelmed by a hug. 

“Thank you for saving, Glenn.” Maggie choked out.

Shannon out of habit hugged her back. Patting her soft brown hair. Maggie pulled back and gave her teary smile. Not knowing what else to do Shannon simply nodded in return and joined Sasha in helping load up the car. She didn’t want them to know the attack had such a strong affect on her. She couldn’t let them think she was weak. So she kept going just to prove that she was still useful even after almost dying.

***

The sun was setting just as the silver van pulled into the welcoming gates. At Shannon’s urging, the crew had been able to hit a few more stops and felt as though they had a successful run for the day. They were soon greeted by another group that helped them unload the car. Apparently they were part of the inventory team and would be taking everything from here. The run group was about to break off when a sudden thought crossed Shannon’s mind;

“Um guys?” Glenn, Maggie, Sasha and Daryl turned their attention towards her. “Can we not mention me almost getting killed to my brother? I know it sounds stupid but I just don’t want him to worry about me for no reason.” 

Shannon kicked at the dirt feeling silly with herself for even bringing it up. Sasha was the first to respond;

“Of course. No one has to know.”

Shannon smiled gratefully at her. Glenn also nodded in response. Maggie shrugged, “I won’t tell anyone about that but I’m letting Rick know you saved Glenn’s life.”

Shannon blushed deeply, “I didn’t save him. I just sort of pushed him.”

“Still saving him in my book.” Maggie tilted her at head at her, “Makes me glad you’re here.”

And with only a smile and a wave, Maggie dragged Glenn off. Sasha nodded her goodbyes and took off in a separate direction leaving only Daryl and Shannon.

Daryl awkwardly adjusted his bow and glanced over at her. Shannon looked back and waited for him to say something, she didn’t know exactly what there was to say but she waited anyways. After a moment or two of silence Shannon sighed in disappointment and turned away from him.

“Goodnight, Daryl.”


	5. Chapter 5

The hours that followed the run Shannon tried to stay out of sight. She was mentally and physically exhausted from the day and the last thing she wanted to do was talk about it.

She tried to pretend that she was fine, that she wasn’t bothered by the events that had occurred earlier in the day, but she just couldn’t shake the uneasy feeling. She wished so badly that she could be as brave as she pretended she was but it just wasn’t the case. It was a scary world with death being a very real possibility at any time. No matter how numb she tried to make herself, she couldn’t escape the fear that always sat imbedded in her heart.

Shannon didn’t even bother trying to sleep once darkness surrounded the area. She knew it wasn’t an option tonight. Instead she impatiently waited for an appropriate hour when she could slip away to her secret spot. When the time finally arrived and she felt the familiar freedom of the cool air and the crisp grass beneath her feet did she finally let the true emotions she had tucked away come out. The tears came right on cue, no sounds of despair came from her lips but the tears flowed as if a deep sorrow had been unleashed.

Shannon let her body collapse to the ground, she wrapped her arms tightly around her knees and buried her face in her hands. She had been terrified. There was no point in denying it to herself any longer. It wasn’t her first daring escape but it didn’t make the task any easier. She knew she was just testing her luck, one of these days the right opportunity wouldn’t present itself, one day she would be killed or taken away and used by some animalistic man. Nothing was easy in this new world, and that just fed Shannon’s fears.

A crackling sound of heavy shoes on the dying grass made Shannon freeze. _“Please don’t be him."_ She begged any unseen force that would listen. _“Anyone but him.”_

“You ok?”

Shannon groaned at the familiar southern drawl, “I’m fine, Daryl. Please leave me alone.”

“You don’t sound fine.”

Shannon hastily wiped her tears away on her shirt sleeve. She firmly set her sights on the few walkers that had gathered along the fences, desperately hoping he would get the hint and leave.

The only sounds that filled the air were the muffled groans from below and Shannon’s quiet sniffs. He wasn’t talking, but he wasn’t leaving either. She refused to humor him by engaging in conversation. After he had the audacity to do what he did, she didn’t see the point in trying to be the bigger person. So the silence continued on endlessly for what felt like an eternity.

Shannon wasn’t sure how much time had past but it had been long enough that she was starting to feel uncomfortable in her current sitting position, but she forbid herself from being the first one to move.

“I had a brother too.”

Shannon had to stop herself from wanting to turn and look at him. She wouldn’t allow herself to give into her curiosity and be that weak.

“His name was Merle. Real big asshole redneck.” Daryl paused and shifted uncomfortably, “Miss him like hell though.”

She didn’t want it to, but her heart hurt for him. Maybe it was the pain that was apparent in his voice or maybe it was because she understood what that would feel like. Whatever it was, Shannon finally turned and looked at the forlorn man standing behind her.

“I’m sorry you lost him.” And she meant it. Daryl nodded back.

“Me too.”

Not knowing how to precede the two just looked at each other, almost daring the other to be the first to speak. Daryl broke first;

“Your neck okay?”

Shannon subconsciously reached up to grab at her throat, “Yeah it’s fine. Just stings a little.”

“Can I look at it?”

Shannon hesitated, weighing her options, before giving a single nod in return. Daryl cautiously stepped forward and sat down in front of her. Shannon slowly pulled her hand away and raised her head up so he could take a look. She felt calloused fingers gently graze under the spot that had been sliced. She hoped to high heaven he didn’t notice the strange shiver that went through her at his touch.

“Yeah, just a scratch. Nothin’ to worry about.”

Shannon lowered her head and her eyes. Stubbornness taking over causing her to still not want to look at him. Daryl scooted himself back a bit and shifted his focus to the grass beneath them. Shannon wished so badly she could tell him to leave but some part of her felt comforted by his presence. 

“Why’d you say it?” Daryl’s voice was barely above a whisper.

“Say what?”

“Why’d you tell him he could kill you? Why’d you say you weren’t worth risking the supplies?” 

Shannon looked up only to find Daryl still looking intently at the grass. Shannon truly felt dumbfounded, she didn’t know it even needed clarification.

“Because it’s true.” Daryl turned his gaze up and met her eyes as she continued, “It was an easy decision. I’m just one person, against the location of our shelter where there are many people and the supplies to feed and medicate those people. It made no sense to risk all of that for a person no one even knows or cares about. The only person who would have cared is my brother. But he would have understood why it needed to be done after some time.”

“That ain’t right.”

“Excuse me?” 

“Letting yourself get killed like that and leaving him behind. Ain’t fair.”

Shannon felt the bubble of anger start to build up inside of her again, “Life ain’t fair.”

Daryl looked back down at the grass, “Still not okay.”

“I can’t do anything right with you, can I? I thought it was pretty nice of me to almost sacrifice myself for your people but you found a way to throw even that back in my face.” Shannon wanted to storm off but her body wouldn’t budge so she kept talking instead, “And besides, I didn’t entirely plan on dying. It was a possibility but it was just a risk I had to take. Things went down about how I hoped they would.”

“You planned that?”

“Sort of.” Shannon took a breath, feeling the burst of anger start to settle down. “It wasn’t my first run in with someone like that. The first time it happened was pure guesswork, apparently I remembered something from a self defense class from high school. The second time it happened was better but not as smooth as this time.”

“What’d ya mean?”

Shannon sighed, she didn’t like reliving the past yet here she was spilling her guts to this man yet again, “I kneed the guy while he still had a good grip on me, so when I tried to jump back I didn’t get far enough. When his hands came down to… well tend to his wound… he slashed me with his knife. I still have the scar on my chest.”

Without thinking about it first, Shannon unbuttoned the first two buttons on her shirt and revealed the faded discolored scar that stretched from just under her collarbone to right above her left breast. Her fingers absentmindedly traced over the raised skin as the memory played back in her mind.

When she returned to reality she felt Daryl’s burning eyes on her. She cleared her throat and self-consciously buttoned up her shirt again as quickly as she could. Keeping her eyes lowered to avoid his gaze. Since she felt the moment couldn’t get any more awkward, Shannon gave in to her burning curiosity and asked Daryl the question she desperately wanted to know the answer to;

“How come you tried to stop me from going on the run? Do you really still not trust me?”

“Nah, it’s not that.”

Feeling a little more bold, Shannon looked back up at the uncomfortable looking archer staring back at her. “Why not then?”

Daryl shifted his focus over to the noisy walkers pacing the fences before looking back over at the patiently waiting woman sitting in front of him, “It’s gotten real dangerous out there. Not just the walkers, a lot of people have been causing problems. We’ve been sending out smaller groups for runs and going further out so to attract less attention from those sorts of people.”

Daryl raised his thumb to his lips and starting chewing the end of it. He still hadn’t answered her question but not wanting to jump to any conclusions again, Shannon waited for him to continue. After a few more moments of his pause, he did;

“I told Rick what you told me. Told him it sounded like you’d be good for guard duty since you said you were a good shot and all. Didn’t think he’d make you part of the runs team.”

“So long story long… Why didn’t you want me to go?”

Daryl shrugged, “I dunno. I didn’t know you could take care of yourself like that.”

The sudden realization hit Shannon like a lightening strike, she bit her lower lip to try to hide her grin, “You were worried about me?”

Daryl’s eyes shot down to the ground but the pink color blooming on his ears was hard to hide. Shannon rolled her eyes and laughed.

“Daryl Dixon,” she shook her head, “Why didn’t you just tell me that? I’ve been so mad at you because I thought you were some kind of sneaky traitor and here you were just being a nice guy.”

Daryl looked up at her cautiously through pieces of his dark hair but only shrugged in return.

“Is that why you came on the run? You wanted to make sure I would be okay?”

Daryl’s ears quickly went from pink to a bright red. Part of Shannon wanted to keep up the questioning, she felt it was a fair punishment for what he had put her through but she decided to show the very uncomfortable looking archer some mercy.

“Well thank you. You could have communicated that better, but I appreciate that you were just trying to look out for me. Rest assured I can take care of myself just fine.”

She tried to smile at him but Daryl didn’t look convinced, “You sure about that?”

Shannon shot him a look, he really knew how to test her patience. Shannon took a deep breath so as not to come across as snappy, “I was on my own for a while. I wouldn’t have made it this far if I didn’t know how to take care of myself. But if you’re still so worried then just come on all the runs I’m assigned to, because I’m going to keep going on runs, I’m good at it, I know what I’m doing, and I’m determined to be an active member of this community. No one is going to stop me, and that includes you, you little worrywart.”

Shannon gave him a little grin and a wink to lighten up the mood. Daryl responded with an involuntary half smile before looking back down at the grass.

“Fine. Guess I’ll have to tell Rick that I’ll be joining a new runs team.”

He glanced up at her with that half smile still on his face. The look caused a strange flutter go through Shannon’s chest. She chalked it up to to built up nerves finally being released and ignored the reaction.

“Guess we’ll be seeing a lot more of each other then.” Shannon returned his half smile with a smirk of her own.

***

The next morning Shannon woke up feeling more refreshed and in a better mood than she had since before the world fell. Her steps felt lighter and more relaxed as she practically glided to the food station. It was an unusual feeling to be this happy but it felt good at the same time. She was so lost in her own thoughts she almost missed the people calling out to her as she passed;

“Hey Shannon! Heard you got a lot of stuff on yesterday’s run! Good job!”

“Shannon, is it true you saved Glenn’s life from a crazy guy with a knife? You are a hero!”

“Thanks for all your hard work, Shannon! We need more people like you!”

Faces and voices she didn’t recognize surrounded her. She felt a peculiar mix of pleased and overwhelmed. She wasn’t use to this many people noticing her and she didn’t know how to handle it. She had gotten accustomed to slipping by people with barely a nod so this was new and unexpected.

The compliments and the questions followed her all the way to her end location, where Carol stood in her usual spot handing out plates and bowls of food. The kind woman gave her a smile as she approached;

“Good morning.”

“Hi Carol. This place is worse than a small town, word spreads real fast around here.” Shannon’s unease must have been apparent on her face because Carol noticed it right away.

“You don’t seem to be enjoying all the attention.” Carol handed her a plate of food which Shannon took gratefully.

“Truth be told, I’ve never handled compliments well. I just feel awkward and never know how to respond.” Shannon remarked sheepishly, “Don’t get me wrong! I appreciate all the nice things everyone’s saying but it also makes me kind of uncomfortable. I didn’t do anything that special so I just don’t deserve the praise I’m getting.”

Carol smiled warmly at her, “You’re very humble. That’s a good quality.”

“Oh I don’t know about that.”

“I heard what you did. I think you’re very deserving of the praise. If not knowing what to say is the problem, you don’t need to say anything more than ‘thank you’ to people. No need to be uncomfortable.”

Shannon nodded, “Yeah I guess so. I will admit, it’s nice to finally feel like I belong here.”

Shannon took some time to eat her breakfast as she waved to a handful of other people who seemed happier than normal to see her. Among the sea of smiling faces she noticed a very serious looking face glance in her direction. She smiled and raised her hand in greeting to Daryl who nodded in return before continuing on.

“Hey Carol, can I ask you a question?”

“Of course.”

“Daryl mentioned that things have gotten really dangerous and some people have been causing problems for you guys. What did he mean by that?”

Carol finished serving the few people waiting for food before turning back to Shannon, “We’ve had a few run ins with some outsiders recently. People who want what we have.”

“What have been the problems?” Shannon asked nervously.

“Nothing we couldn’t handle. We’ve just had to take a few extra precautions. It’s really nothing you have to worry about.” Carol gave her a convincingly encouraging smile. Shannon still felt unsure but all she could do was take her word for it.

“Alright, well thanks for breakfast, Carol.”

***

It had been a very long day before Shannon finally was able to escape to her cell. She dragged herself over to her cot and ungracefully collapsed onto it. Still riding on the high of being in a good mood and finally feeling like a welcome member of the community, Shannon thought it would be a great idea to volunteer to help with the farming work. Hours upon hours of the backbreaking tasks made her realize she had made a huge mistake. The only thing getting her through was knowing this was a one time gig. She was already dying to get back out and go on a run again.

“Hey Miss Popular.” A teasing voice came from the entryway to her cell.

“Oh don’t you start now.” Shannon sat up and rolled her eyes at her little brother who wouldn’t remove the smirk from his face.

“I heard a rumor that you saved someone’s life and now everyone plans to elect you President of the prison.” 

Shannon took the pillow from her bunk and threw it at him, Tyler avoided it with ease and burst into laughter. “Relax! I’m just joking around. Honestly I’m super proud of you.”

“Thanks.” Shannon smiled, “How’s your job going?”

Tyler grabbed the stool sitting in the corner of the cell and sat down, leaning back so he could rest against the cool walls.

“Great actually. A lot of reorganizing and running numbers but I’m enjoying it. It’s nice being able to use my brain again, although I never realized how much I would miss something as simple as a calculator until now.”

Shannon couldn’t have been more thrilled for him, his joy overshadowed the melancholy that always appeared whenever she thought of everything they had missed out on, everything they would never get to do or experience because the world they knew ended.

Tyler had only been a sophomore in college with his whole life ahead of him. Very smart and had a good head on his shoulders, Shannon had no doubts he would have gone far in life if given the chance. She reminded herself again and again that there was no use dwelling on the past but it was still a challenge for her.

“I hate to say it, but I told you so.” Tyler leaned back further and put his hands behind his head.

“What’s that?”

“I knew this place would work. I knew we would be happy here.”

“Yeah,” Shannon smiled more to herself than to her brother, “I guess you were right.”


	6. Chapter 6

“I can’t believe you carried that the whole way back.” Daryl muttered to the very proud looking Shannon who clutched a thick sleeping bag in her arms.

“You don’t come across gems like this every day!”

“You know it’s really dirty.”

“I don’t care.”

“I bet a lot of rats and bugs have been in there.”

“I’m not giving it up, Daryl. Don’t be jealous just because I found it instead of you.” Shannon shot him a look and stuck her tongue out at him. Daryl rolled his eyes in an attempt to hide the grin that was peaking through.

The two had just gotten back from their third successful run in the past two weeks putting them both in good spirits. They had been joined by Glenn and Sasha earlier in the day but when the other two were ready to call it quits, Daryl and Shannon decided they wanted to hit up a few extra places. Willing to walk back to the prison, Glenn and Sasha had dropped them off and taken the car. Shannon was thrilled when she found a sleeping bag tucked away in an abandoned tent about 6 miles from the prison.

“I’m starving. Wanna go grab food?”

“Are you going to drag the sleeping bag there?”

“Yup! Might as well keep showing off my prize.”

“I really hope there’s still a rat’s nest or something in there.” Daryl grumbled.

Shannon laughed the rest of the way to the food station where they were greeted by Carol who handed them both very large portions.

“Wow, thanks Carol! Why so much?” Shannon exclaimed as she stuffed her face with the hot meal.

“Between the amount you guys have been bringing back, Tyler keeping track of everything, and how well Rick is doing with the farming, we have quite a bit to spare.” 

Daryl gave her a troubled look, “Shouldn’t we be saving the extra then?”

“We have to use the fresh vegetables before they go bad since we have no way of saving them. The canned foods and non-perishables you bring back gets stashed though. Don’t worry, Daryl. We’re doing fine.” Shannon never failed to notice how Carol seemed to be one of the only people who could convince Daryl of anything and could calm him down with little effort. She supposed it was similar to how Tyler always seemed to be able to ease her mind. Some people just have a gift.

“Rick was looking for you earlier, Daryl. You should probably go find him.” Carol mentioned as she grabbed the empty bowl from his hands.

“Alright. I’ll see you guys later.”

Shannon waved goodbye as she handed her bowl back to Carol. “I should probably getting going too. See you around, Carol.”

“Take care, Shannon.”

***

Night fell quickly to Shannon’s delight. She was anxious to test out her new sleeping bag and knew the best place would be in her usual evening spot. Despite becoming very comfortable in her surroundings, Shannon still couldn’t make it through the night sleeping in her cell. She was lucky if she got more than two hours. And even though she had gotten to know just about everyone in the prison and knew she was well beyond the risk of being alienated, she still couldn’t bring herself to sneak out of her cell until she was certain everyone else was asleep.

As the hour arrived, Shannon bundled up her thick sleeping bag into her arms and dragged it outside into the cool night air. Without a second thought, she tossed it to the ground and crawled inside. It was most certainly worn from many uses but Shannon was thrilled to find it was still warm and soft in it’s own right. She sat up and pulled it upwards so that it rested on her shoulders making her feel cozy and snug surrounded by it’s warmth.

“You really went and dragged that thing out here?” There was humor hidden behind the accusing words the approaching Daryl tossed her way.

“You’re just jealous.” Shannon teased over her shoulder. “Be nice to me and maybe I’ll share.”

“I’ll just wait till you’re sick of all the bed bug bites,” Daryl threw back as he made himself comfortable beside her.

“Not gonna happen, Dixon. Do you see how cozy this is? I’m not giving that up for anything.”

When he gave no response, Shannon looked over at him. She noticed immediately the focused and serious look on his face as he stared intently towards the fences. Fear started to trickle into her veins making her heart beat speed up.

“What is it?”

Daryl raised a finger to his lips briefly indicating for her to be quiet. Shannon held her breath as she tried to follow his gaze out to the trees. She saw the usual handful of walkers leaning against the fences but didn’t notice anything else unusual. She sat as still as a statue, the only sound she could hear was the intense beating of her own heart. Her eyes sweeping the area trying with no success to spot what he could see. Her fear and impatience taking over her senses, Shannon spoke again;

“Daryl talk to me, what do you see?” she said in a barely audible whisper.

“Not sure.” He whispered back, “Could’a sworn I saw someone. Probably nothing but I wanna go check it out.”

“I’ll come with you.”

“No.” Daryl finally looked over at her, “Stay here.”

“What if you need help?”

“I’ll be fine.” He said as he started to stand up. Shannon attempted to quickly wiggle herself out of her sleeping bag.

“You don’t know who’s out there. They might be dangerous.”

“All the more reason for you to stay.”

“You might need back up.” Shannon finally got herself free and jumped up to try and catch him before he snuck away.

“Shannon please, just stay here.” Shannon caught the concern that passed briefly over his face, his pleading eyes looking deeply into hers making her almost forget where she was for a moment. She opened her mouth to argue but what came out wasn’t what she planned.

“Don’t be stupid. Stay safe.”

Relief spread across his features as he nodded and ran off in the direction he first spotted the disturbance. Shannon felt fear spread through her body and a chill ran down her spine. She tucked herself back into her sleeping bag but refused to take her eyes off of the shrinking figure of Daryl in the distance. She kept her eyes firmly on him until he was no longer in sight. Shannon sucked in a deep breath in an effort to slow her racing heartbeat. 

“Please keep him safe.” Shannon whispered to the wind.

***

Hours later Shannon’s eyes fluttered open. Confusion setting in as she glanced around at her surroundings realizing she had woken up somewhere other than where she fell asleep. She sat up abruptly trying to shake away the last bits of sleep. She was still in the sleeping bag she remembered being wrapped up in but instead of being outside, she was on her bunk in her cell. She tried to rack her brain to remember how she ended up here but was drawing a blank. Her brainstorming was interrupted by a familiar voice greeting her from the entry way to her cell.

“Morning sleepy head!”

Shannon looked up at her brother who had a sly look on his face, the kind of look someone would have if they had a secret and were bursting to tell someone. Shannon raised an eyebrow at him before pulling herself from the sleeping bag.

“Morning, you’re up early.”

“Nope. You’re just up late.” 

Shannon almost didn’t believe him at first, she never slept at all never mind slept in, “Well good thing I had nowhere to be today.”

Tyler just kept on looking at her with that shit-eating-grin on his face, Shannon was on the verge of losing her patience. “What is up with you?”

Tyler shrugged, “Just curious to know what’s going between you and the hunter.”

“Daryl? What are you talking about?” Shannon furrowed her brow, genuinely confused by the comment.

“I woke up in the middle of the night last night. Was thinking about going for a walk when I noticed a certain someone carrying you back to your cell.”

“Carrying me? I don’t remember this.” 

“You looked like you were asleep.” Tyler’s accusing grin returned, “I was wondering what on earth you could have been doing alone with Daryl that would have caused you to be so tired he had to carry you back to bed.”

Shannon couldn’t stop the deep blush that inched it’s way up her face, “Nothing happened! We were just talking. I must have just been exhausted and I fell asleep is all.”

“That is the biggest lie I have ever heard. If you were so tired you wouldn’t have been out of your cell in the first place.” Tyler shook his head at her, “Come on sis, we tell each other everything.”

It was then that Shannon remembered what had happened the night before. She remembered waiting for what felt like hours for Daryl to return, desperately trying to keep her eyes from shutting. Apparently sleep had won the battle but she was relieved to learn that he must be ok if he had tucked her in that night. Not wanting to tell her brother about a potential threat for fear of causing unnecessary panic, she just tried to keep as much of the truth in without telling the whole story;

“I had a really long run with the group yesterday and then ended up walking over 6 miles back home. I must have just been exhausted.” Shannon shrugged as casually as she could manage but Tyler was unconvinced.

“I’ll let this go for now. But don’t expect me to drop it completely.”

“If there is ever something to talk about you know you’ll be the first to know.” 

“Yeah I better be.” Tyler huffed at her, “But whatever the case may be. You seem happy and that makes me happy.”

Shannon smiled at her little brother, “I love you.”

“Love you too, sis. Now get your lazy ass up and do something with your life.”

***

Shannon rushed out of her cell as soon as her brother had left her alone. She believed him when he said he had seen Daryl last night but she wouldn’t feel better until she had seen him for herself. She tried to make her strides seem casual as her eyes sharply surveyed the area.

It wasn’t long before she spotted him talking to Rick over by the pigpen. As she approached she realized with concern that it looked to be a very serious conversation. She slowed her pace so as not to call attention to herself and made the decision to wait until they were done to speak to him. She tried to make herself look busy by sharpening her knife on a nearby rock while keeping her lowered eyes trained on the two.

A few more minutes passed before she saw the conversation come to a close. She watched as Daryl pivoted around and started marching up the hill towards her general direction. Shannon waited until she saw Rick turn away before hastily walking to Daryl. 

“Hey,” Shannon called to him out of breath.

Daryl halted his steps and turned towards her, waiting for her to catch up. “Hey.”

“I’ve been worried about you. I wanted to know what happened last night.”

Something passed across Daryl’s eyes but Shannon couldn’t quite catch what it is. He simply shrugged in return and started walking again, Shannon had to double up her steps to try to keep up. “It was nothin. Guess I was just seeing things.”

Shannon was far from convinced, “What were you talking to Rick about then?”

“What are you spying on me, girl?”

“Apparently I learned from the best.” Shannon joked hoping to take some of the edge off. When Daryl didn’t respond Shannon contemplated dragging the information out of him but feared his reaction. He already seemed on edge and she didn’t think pushing her luck was the smartest of choices. 

“Fine, don’t tell me. But maybe you can enlighten me on another mystery I’m trying to solve.”

“Oh yeah? What’s that?”

“I woke up this morning in my bunk, still wrapped up in my sleeping bag. Which is strange considering I distinctly remember falling asleep outside while I was waiting for you to come back. Any idea how that happened?” Shannon’s voice was thick with a teasing innocence and when she caught Daryl’s eye she blinked her long lashes at him feigning naivety. 

“Maybe you’re a sleep walker.” Daryl grunted.

“That’s an impressive skill to do while in a sleeping bag.”

“Sure is.”

Shannon sighed and rolled her eyes, “Well I can see you’re not up for conversation so I’ll just leave you be.”

Daryl started to slow his pace but kept his eyes firmly forward, “Sorry, it ain’t you. Got a lot I’m thinking about.”

“You can talk to me about it. Ease your mind.” Shannon saw the wheels in his brain turning but he still shook his head.

“Not right now. Soon maybe. When I work a few things out.”

Shannon nodded in return, it was better than nothing at least. “Fair enough. I gotta run but maybe I’ll see you later on?”

“Yeah but leave that damn sleeping bag in your cell this time. I’m sick of looking at the ratty thing.”

Shannon chuckled and started to jog off, but before she got out of hearing range she heard Daryl call out to her;

“You’re a heavy sleeper, you know that?”

Shannon turned back around to face him, “Am I?”

“I damn near dropped you on the stairs. You didn’t even notice.”

Shannon tried to hide her grin by looking at the ground, “You could have woken me up.”

“Nah, I know you have trouble sleeping. I didn’t want to do that to you.”

“I guess I owe you one then.”

Daryl shrugged, “I could use a sleeping bag.”

“Not gonna happen.” Shannon laughed and looked up to see Daryl smirking at her.

“Worth a shot.”


	7. Chapter 7

Shannon pulled the hood of her sweatshirt over her head in an attempt block out some of the chill in the air. The cool breeze was a welcome change from the scorching heat they had experienced the past few months in the prison, but the sudden dip in temperature felt colder than usual since her body hadn’t been given time to adjust yet. 

She made a mental note to herself to keep an eye out for any winter clothes she could find on her run that day as she hastened her pace across the grounds of the prison. When she reached the building, she welcomed the slightly warmer air that greeted her as she pulled the door shut.

“Tyler?” Shannon called out, her voice echoing through the empty halls.

“Up here!”

Shannon followed the voice up a set of stairs and through a large doorway leading to what she had been told was where they stored all the food and supplies. She took her hood off and pulled her long hair out from beneath her sweatshirt, the thick amounts of blonde pooling out from every direction.

Shannon glanced around at the neatly organized shelves that packed the room. Each section dedicated to a different thing; canned food, fresh food, ammo and weapons, medicine, it went on and on. Shannon had never been inside so she was taken back by it all. Tyler emerged from behind one of the shelving units, clipboard in hand.

“Hey, what are you doing up here?”

“Figured I would come for a quick visit before my run. Did you do all of this?”

“I wish I could take credit but most of this was here when we arrived. I just took the liberty of organizing it out better and actually count everything we had. Pretty impressive looking, huh?”

“I’ll say.” Shannon remarked as she finally tore her eyes from the mounds of items, “I had no idea we had so much.”

“Hard to believe you and I went from sharing a bag of stale potato chips for dinner to being surrounded by months worth of meals.” Tyler continued on writing things down in his clipboard as Shannon pulled up a chair.

“I was going to ask if there was anything we were in need of so I can be on the lookout during my run today, but it looks like we’re all set.” Shannon absentmindedly began tracing the graffiti that had long ago been carved into the wooden table.

“I wouldn’t go that far.” Tyler tossed his clipboard to the side and sat down across from her, “It looks like a lot, and it really is but it can go quickly. It makes what you guys do extremely important.”

“Are you lacking in anything?”

“Yeah actually. Medicine and first aid stuff. We have a lot of the basics but if you happen to come across any antibiotics, gauze, even hand sanitizer, that would be excellent.”

Shannon nodded, “I’ll make sure we keep an eye out for a pharmacy.”

“And one other thing if you have the time…” Tyler hesitated, Shannon was surprised to see he looked almost shy about asking. “I noticed the kids are growing really fast, especially the baby, Judith. Some of their clothes aren’t fitting like they should. That’s not good especially with the temperatures starting to get cooler. If by any chance you come across any clothes for them, I’m sure everyone would appreciate it.”

Shannon couldn’t help but smile at her little brother and ruffle his hair. He tried to push her off as quickly as he could. “Hey cut it out!”

“I’m sorry, you’re just adorable. Looking out for the kids. Is there a selfish bone if your body?”

Tyler rolled his eyes, picked up his clipboard again and headed over to one of the many shelves, “I should have asked one of the others. Glenn wouldn’t have called me adorable.”

“That’s because he’s kind of adorable too.” Shannon chuckled.

“Speaking of adorable,” Tyler shot her a look before pretending to be very occupied writing something down. “How’s my favorite couple doing?”

“Glenn and Maggie? Fine I guess.”

“No, you and Daryl.”

Shannon felt heat start to rise to the back of her neck, “We are not a couple! You need to stop saying that.”

“You’re full of shit, Shannon. I’ve seen the way you two act around each other. Not to mention I’ve seen you sneak out of your cell in the middle of the night so many times, and he’s always only a few minutes behind you. I don’t know why you’re trying to keep it a secret.”

Shannon groaned and nervously pulled on the ends of her hair, “We’re just friends. I swear to God, Tyler, I would tell you if there was something more. Please don’t be spreading rumors about us being together, it would make things really awkward between us.”

“I hope I get invited to the bachelor party.”

“Ok I’m done.” Shannon threw her hands up and rose from her seat, “I’ll see you later. Enjoy your counting, nerd boy.”

“Give Daryl my love!” Tyler called out from behind one of the shelves.

Shannon roughly pulled the hood back over her head and shoved her hands in her pockets as she left the building. She was feeling strangely more annoyed at her brother’s comments than she should. It was a ridiculous thought and he was just teasing her, so why couldn’t she shake it from her mind? 

Shannon wasn’t stupid, she had definitely felt things about Daryl that she hadn’t felt around any of the other men at the prison but she always chalked it up to typical sexual tension that happens when you spend so much time around someone of the opposite sex. She did notice the occasional light flirting they had done with each other, but it was all in good fun. They were just friends, good friends, really close good friends.

Shannon kept reminding herself of that the entire way down to the main gate. That was until she caught a glimpse of Daryl casually leaning against the van waiting for the others to arrive. Shannon felt herself involuntary swallow as a strange flutter went through her stomach. She kept telling herself how absurd of an idea it was even as she pulled the hood from her head and subconsciously ran her fingers through her hair to neaten it out. Daryl gave her a strange look as she approached;

“You alright?”

“Yeah, yeah I’m fine,” she blurted out too quickly, “Got a lot on my mind.”

“Wanna talk about it?”

Shannon violently shook her head, “Nope. I’m good.”

Daryl rose an eyebrow at her, “Alright.”

Thankfully the rest of the group was arriving at the same time so Shannon took the opportunity to slip inside the van before she could bring any more suspicious activity to the forefront. She forcefully and repeatedly tapped her forehead to the glass hoping it would help push away the idiotic thoughts. There was no legitimate feelings behind the claim. She swore to herself that she’d forget all about it on the run. 

Now if only she could get her heart to stop beating so fast.

***

The cooler air must have been energizing the group because everyone seemed extra chatty that afternoon. Shannon didn’t mind in the slightest, she was just grateful she didn’t have to do any of the talking. She kept her eyes firmly on the blurry visions speeding past her out the window, trying her best to ignore the occasional glances she felt from Daryl. Shannon’s racing thoughts came to an abrupt stop when she saw a sign approaching from the distance.

“Glenn stop!” She cried out. She felt her body thrust forward as he came down too hard on the brakes.

“What is it?”

“I saw a sign for a pharmacy! Can we go check it out?”

Glenn hesitated and looked towards the direction of the sign, “I don’t know, Shannon. We haven’t had much luck with those. They’re usually picked over or packed with walkers.”

“Can we just try? I promised my brother I would keep a look out for some first aid stuff. I guess we’re running a little low.”

Glenn locked eyes with Maggie who sat beside him. She shared his concerned look but shrugged, “I say we check it out. If it looks bad we can get out quickly.”

Shannon caught Maggie’s eye and smiled gratefully at her as Glenn took a sharp left towards the pharmacy. As they approached the overly rundown looking building, Shannon’s hopes were dashed. The dozen or so walkers roaming the area only made matters worse. The car slowed to a stop a quarter of a mile from the property.

“I don’t know guys. This doesn’t seem like a good idea,” Glenn remarked.

“We can handle a few walkers. We’re already here, might as well take a look.” Daryl responded.

“Fine.” Glenn sighed as he pulled the van closer to the pharmacy.

The sound of the tires on the gravel made the walkers immediately shifted their focus to the oncoming van. Daryl didn’t even wait for Glenn to come to a complete stop before jumping out of the moving vehicle, shooting down one walker and then pulling the arrow from it’s soft skull and using it to kill another one creeping up behind him.

“Show off,” Sasha snickered before also jumping out of the van and going after two more. Maggie and Shannon shrugged at each other before following the other two out to Glenn’s annoyance.

“Someone could have waited for me to stop!” He shouted at the others before backing the van in. Without missing a beat, he parked the car and jumped right into action by shoving a knife deep into the skull of a walker who had started clawing at his windshield.

In a matter of minutes the five had cleared the front of the building and had done a quick scope of the inside. To everyone’s disappointment, they found very little in the pharmacy. Broken glass and discarded empty bottles littered the floors and the roof had a serious leak causing major water damage everywhere. But Shannon wasn’t ready to give up just yet.

“I’m going to look a little deeper, there has to be something here.” She called over her shoulder as she headed down an aisle that led to the backroom.

She grabbed a small flashlight from her pocket and dropped to the floor hoping her old trick would work. Shining the light under the shelves she felt discouraged to see nothing but a few spiders. Sighing, she sat back up and leaned forward on her knees. After convincing the group they should stop here she knew she would feel horrible if they came out empty handed. She was so busy trying to brainstorm a new game plan that she didn’t notice the sound of soft creaking footsteps approaching. She brought her hands to the ground and began crawling around knocking at the floor hoping there might be something hidden under a loose floorboard. 

Out of seemingly nowhere, she heard a growl coming from directly behind. Her blood freezing in her veins at the sound. She whipped herself around only to see she was face to face with a walker, it’s jaws rapidly snapping at it’s chosen meal. Shannon tried to reach for her knife but lost her balance, toppling over onto her back with a loud thump. The walker reached it’s rotten hand out towards her, it’s fingers clasping at the mere inches between them. Her breathing was fast and shallow as she attempted to crab walk herself away from the oncoming threat.

She opened her mouth to scream out to the others just as an arrow came shooting past and impaled itself into the soft skull. Shannon barely managed to fling herself out of the way of the falling body that crashed to the floor. She breathed a heavy sign of relief as she looked up to thank the very angry looking Daryl.

“What the hell is wrong with you today?” He snapped as he threw his bow back over his shoulder.

“I dunno… Guess I’m just a little distracted.” Shannon responded sheepishly.

“Well pay attention. You almost got yourself killed.”

Shannon looked away, a strong mix of humiliation and self pity stirring in her gut. She heard Daryl let out a breath and she glanced up to see his outstretched hand, which she took with only the slightest bit of hesitation. She avoided his eyes as he helped her back up to her feet.

“You alright?”

“I’m fine. Thanks for the help.”

He quickly looked her up and down just to confirm she was indeed fine. His sharply searching eyes made Shannon feel another blush start to accumulate on her face.

“I found these. Not much but it’s somethin”

She looked down as he pulled from his pockets a few individual packets of Advil and a bottle of antiseptic spray. “Oh good.” She commented, “At least the stop wasn’t a total waste.”

“Sure. Now let’s get out of here before you become something’s lunch.”

***

A few hours later the group was heading back to the prison. It hadn’t been as lucrative of a run as they’d had in the past but they managed to get a few needed items. Their biggest success of the day was finding a daycare and raiding the lost and found station. It was far from hitting the jackpot, but it was at least enough that some of the kids would have a few new clothing items. 

Shannon glanced around at her friends, they didn’t appear to be as disappointed as she was by the lack of items they were bringing back. Unlike Shannon, they always seemed pretty content when they found anything at all. Shannon’s wandering eyes fell on Daryl who must have sensed her stare because he glanced back over at her. Embarrassed about being caught, Shannon quickly looked away and redirected her attention out the window. She desperately tried to ignore the familiar drop feeling in her stomach. He was right, what the hell _was_ wrong with her today.

She raised her hand to her mouth and started biting at her nails. Something she only subconsciously did when she was questioning herself. A bad habit that she hadn’t done in years. She swiftly stole one more subtle glance in Daryl’s general direction. Maybe she did have a little bit of a crush. Was that so bad? Shannon let her thoughts drift to the idea but that little voice in her head wouldn’t allow her imagination to run too wild as it firmly reminded her to keep those emotions in check. The crush would fade given time. 

She really enjoyed spending time with Daryl and she didn’t want to ruin their friendship. He was one of the only people she truly trusted and the last thing she wanted was to scare him off. She couldn’t ever act like she had earlier again. It made it too obvious what her feelings potentially were. The little voice in her head was retraining her on how to act normal around him when her thoughts were interrupted;

“Oh shit!” Glenn gasped.

Shannon tore her eyes from the window and looked ahead to what he was seeing. Her heart pounded so hard she felt as though it would burst from her chest, her lungs screaming for air but she couldn’t remember how to breath, her mouth fell open into a silent scream as her eyes fixated on what stood in front of them.

Smoke was pouring out from somewhere inside the prison’s fences, the distant sounds of screams and gun fire rang out, and the front gate was torn down.


	8. Chapter 8

Glenn accelerated the engine, busting the van through what was left of the already ruined gate, taking out a few walkers at the same time. The scene was a disaster. People were running around frantically, fire and smoke was coming from where the crops were located, a few bodies were scattered around, and walkers were everywhere. Shannon threw herself from the car and took off running before giving herself time to think.

“Shannon wait!” Someone called out to her.

“I have to find Tyler!” She screamed back.

Shannon’s eyes rapidly scanned the area hoping to catch even a glimpse of him amongst the horrified faces of people she had grown to care about in every direction. She refused to look at the bodies laying lifelessly on the ground, she wouldn’t allow herself to believe he was one of them. 

She felt her clothing being grabbed at by walkers but she pulled herself away and sped past them, she saw members of her community running as frantically as she was but she couldn’t help them, not until she knew he was okay. Gun shots rang out in her ears and the growls of the walkers were surrounding her.

Feeling like she was running in circles, she stopped abruptly and wildly spun herself around trying to gage where she even was. There was chaos everywhere and she didn’t know where to go. She tried to scream out to her brother but his name caught in her throat. Knowing she had to keep searching, she whipped herself around only to come face to face with a walker.

“Shannon move!”

She dove out of the way just in time to hear a gun shot whiz past her ear, knocking out the walker that had almost gotten her. She looked up to see Carol standing before her, a smoking shotgun in hand. Shannon darted forward, fighting the panic attack that was building inside of her;

“Have you seen Tyler? Please tell me he’s okay!”

Carol’s worried look only made her feel more sick. “I haven’t, I’m sorry. I’ll keep an eye out for him.” She squeezed her shoulder in an effort to be comforting before darting off without another word.

Shannon felt her heart seize in her chest, she grabbed at her hair and looked around frantically. _“Don’t do this to me again. Don’t you take him away from me.”_ She silently begged. The noises crashing around her sounded amplified in her head. She felt dizzy and the darkness was coming in around her, threatening to swallow her whole. She desperately reached out for anything that could steady her and to her surprise, someone grabbed back.

She looked up to see Daryl standing before her, concern burning in his eyes. Everything seemed to be spinning so she tried focusing on the ground in hopes it would help her vision but it felt like the earth was crumbling from beneath her. Her shallow breathing was only making the panic attack worse. It was in that moment, as she was falling apart, she felt Daryl place his hands on her either side of her face and forced her to look up at him.

“Are you okay? What happened?” His worried but stern voice somehow helping to steady her.

“I can’t find my brother.” She gasped out feeling the onset of tears starting to sting her eyes. Daryl let go of her face and grabbed her hand instead.

“We’re gonna find him. Come on.”

She allowed herself to be dragged through the commotion. The smoke stinging her eyes, the screams echoing through her ears, and the memory of blood overtaking her vision. This couldn’t be happening. This was her home, it was safe here it was secure. It felt like a nightmare and she was desperate to wake up. 

Her body was jerked back by her arm when Daryl stopped and she had still been mid run. She tried to pull him along but when he refused to move she looked up to see his usual stoic express had been replaced with a tense look. She darted her eyes in the direction he was focused on only to be faced with her worst fear.

She saw Tyler as he stumbled out of the prison, his expression as white as a ghost, and he was covered in blood. Shannon felt as though she was about to collapse but instead her body went into autopilot mode, shooting her forward at record speeds. She screamed his name and to her relief he turned and locked eyes with her. He stumbled forward a few steps before breaking into a sprint towards her.

It all felt like it was happening in slow motion, as if an eternity had passed before she had finally reached him. She threw her arms around him, taking a moment to be thankful he was at least alive before she started searching him for wound.

“Are you bit? What happened?” The alarm in her voice was uncontrollable.

“It’s not my blood.”

Shannon’s eyes locked with his, silently praying she had heard him correctly, “It’s not yours?”

Tyler only shook his head. Shannon felt the sob escape her throat as relief poured through every inch of her body. She buried her face in his shoulder and let the emotions fly, “Oh thank God you’re okay. I thought I lost you.” 

She didn’t feel him hug her back which was unusual, instead he felt stiff as a board. Shannon peered up at her younger brother’s pale face, frozen in shock. She pulled back and searched his eyes for an answer. 

“What’s wrong?”

“I killed someone.”

“Who?”

“Some guy. When everything went down I heard someone coming up the stairs. Some of the kids and Hershel’s daughter Beth were around. I hid them in the storage area but we don’t have a lock. I grabbed one of the guns from the shelves. I thought I would just scare the guy away but he busted in and had a much bigger gun. I don’t know what happened but I shot him. After I realized what I had done I tried to revive him but there was just too much blood. It all happened so fast.” Tyler’s face was rapidly going from shock to torment.

“You did what you had to do. He would have killed you and those kids and Beth. He would have taken all those supplies and weapons and would have given them to whoever else did this to our people. You saved way more lives than you took. You did the right thing.”

Tyler slowly turned and looked down at his sister, his deep green eyes looking haunted, “It’s still not right.”

Shannon tore her eyes from her brother to look at Daryl who stood anxiously behind her, “He’s ok but I want to get him out of here. I promise I’ll be out here to help as soon as I can.”

Daryl nodded before taking off in the opposite direction. Shannon watched him go for as long as she could before turning her attention back to her brother. She took her gun out of it’s holster just in case and grabbed her brother’s wrist with her free hand. She rushed them back to their cells gravely hoping they were still intact.

***

Hours later Shannon stood in front of the flames that licked the sky and burned away the remains of all the walkers that had gotten in. The fire felt hot on her face but she couldn’t get the chill out of her body. They had lost eight of their own that day. It could have been a lot worse but it was still a devastating blow to the community. Whoever had broken into their home had also set fire to many of their crops and released most of the animals. They had managed to get the majority of them back but a horse had been stolen, a cow escaped and many of the chickens had been eaten by walkers. 

The reality was, that was only a fraction of the damage that was done, the real thing they took was the feeling of safety and security that this place had brought. Shannon felt another shiver go down her spine. She crossed her arms over chest hoping it would make her feel better, more protected. She turned her face away from the flames as the last of the bodies got tossed into the pit causing sparks to fly in every direction. Daryl wiped his hands on his pants and joined Shannon next to the fire. He briefly glanced over at her before looking into the flames;

“How’s he doing?”

Shannon hugged her arms tighter, “He’s shaken up, but he’ll be okay. I made him take a shower and change his clothes. I made sure he was safe in his cell before I came out here to help. I wanted to lock him in but he wouldn’t hear of it. I’ll go in and check on him soon.”

“He’s never killed anyone before?”

“No, he was adamantly against it. But it had to be done. At least now I know he can do it if he has to.”

“How are you holding up?” Daryl turned his attention back to her. Shannon looked over at him, the fire causing shadows to dance across his face. Shannon thought about lying, telling him she was fine but she didn’t want to. She didn’t want to pretend everything was always fine, she was tired of trying to be strong all the time.

“Honestly, not great.” She swallowed down the emotion that was trying to escape, “I was so scared today. I really thought I was going to lose him. And I feel so stupid and useless. So many people could have used my help and all I did was run around like a manic trying to find him. And I couldn’t even do that right. If you hadn’t of helped, I don’t know what would have happened.” 

Shannon shook her head and looked down at the ground hoping he wouldn’t see the tears filling her eyes. 

“You’re not useless or stupid. Any one of us would’a done the same thing if it was our brother.”

Shannon tried to quickly wipe away some of the tears that escaped her eyes, “You’re just being nice. I’m pathetic.”

She felt Daryl slip his hand under her chin and gently raised her head up until her eyes met his.

“You’re not pathetic.”

Shannon saw only sincerity in his eyes and it warmed her heart. Her gaze wandered over his face, she liked the way the fire lit up his features, she liked how intently he was looking at her, she liked how she felt in that very moment. But that comfortable feeling only lasted half a heart beat before the reality of how close in proximity they were to each other sunk in suddenly made her feel self conscious.

“I should probably go check on him.”

As if reality had just sunk in for him too, he stepped back away from her and darted his eyes back to the flames, “It’s pretty dark. You alright walking back on your own?”

Shannon nodded, “I’ll be fine. But thank you. Thank you for everything. You’re a really good guy Daryl Dixon. I don’t know what I would do without you.”

He turned his eyes back to her, his stare making her feel as if he were examining her. It caused her to feel nervous and excited at the same time. But the look didn’t last long before he quickly turned his attention back to the fire and shrugged. Shannon paused and watched him a moment longer, part of her wanting so badly to stay beside him, but the logical part of her firmly reminded her it was time to leave. She half heartedly turned on her heels and headed back up to the cells.

***

Shannon leaned on the bars at the entryway to Tyler’s cell. She watched as he appeared to be carefully taking notes on his clipboard but she couldn’t mistake the dazed look in his eyes.

“Hey there,”

He looked up abruptly as if startled by her but quickly relaxed when he realized who had greeted him, “Hey.”

“How are you doing?”

“I’m okay.”

“Can I come in?”

“Of course.” Tyler scooted over on the cot allowing Shannon room to sit beside him.

“What are you working on?”

“Nothing actually. Every time I try to focus my mind just drifts.” He looked over at her, “It’s scary you know, what happened. All I heard was a boom and when I looked out the window I saw that some people had drove a truck through the gate. I didn’t know what was going on until I saw them jump out. They all had guns and I just knew that they weren’t here on a friendly visit.” Tyler turned his attention back to his clipboard but continued on, “They shot a couple of people right away and then they split up, that’s when I saw the walkers starting to get in. I didn’t know what to do at first but when I saw them starting to shove things in their bags I realized they were robbing us. I knew if they found the storage area that we would be screwed.”

Tyler cleared his throat and shook his head, “I didn’t want to kill him.”

Shannon wrapped her arms around her brother and let him cry into her shoulder. All she could do was whisper soothing things to him just as she had done when he was upset as a child. He always came to her for comfort. She didn’t know how to help him anymore now than she did then, but she knew she could be there for him and that’s all he really needed. She kissed the top of his head and calmly murmured to him;

“I know it doesn’t feel like it, but you really did the right thing. You were so brave. I’m so proud of you.”

She let him cry until she felt the weight of sleep start to take it’s toll on him. After she was sure he was out, she moved the clipboard off the bed and threw a blanket over him. She ran her fingers across his face, admiring the innocent, peaceful features that only deep sleep can create. She memorized this moment and tucked it away in her mind. 

Her heart was broken knowing that this place they had grown to love and feel safe in had been compromised. Their safety robbed from both of them. She was furious that her brother was afraid, that his life had been threatened. She didn’t know much, but she knew she wasn’t going to let it happen again.


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I decided to make a chapter from Daryl’s perspective to change things up a bit. The next chapter will go back to Shannon’s perspective but I MIGHT throw another Daryl chapter in depending on if I feel the story needs it. Hope you readers enjoy!!  
> ***

The morning after the attack, Daryl and Carol sat together discussing the terrifying events that had taken place in their home. The sun had barely risen and very few people were out and about but the two spoke in hushed tones so as not to bring attention to the dark subject. They were just wrapping up their breakfast when they saw a very focused Shannon marching by with an unwavering look of determination on her face. They observed as she gathered her mounds of thick blond hair and tied it into a knot on top of her head.

“Where do you think she’s going?” Carol remarked.

“I dunno, looks serious though.”

Carol stood and waved hoping to catch her attention. Shannon’s eyes darted over to the two. She paused for a half a second before changing her direction and headed towards them looking impatient.

“Hey, what’s up?”

“We were just wondering where you were in such a rush to get to this early in the morning.” Carol casually tossed her way.

“I want to talk to Rick. I was up all night thinking about what happened yesterday and it’s just not sitting right with me.”

“It’s not sitting right with anybody.” Carol commented, “It shouldn’t have happened.”

“And I don’t want it to happen again. That’s what I want to talk to Rick about.”

“You think that’s a good idea?” Daryl chimed in.

“Well I don’t see anyone else doing anything about it so yes I do think it’s a good idea.” Shannon started tapping her foot anxiously.

“Do you want some breakfast first?” Carol went to stand to grab her something but Shannon stopped her.

“Thanks but I’m all set. Unless you happen to have coffee.”

Carol smiled with amusement but shook her head, “Unfortunately not. Shame too, I miss coffee.”

“You and me both. More and more these days.” Shannon sighed, “I’ll see you both later. Wish me luck!”

Daryl kept his eyes on her as she rushed off. He felt his lips involuntarily twitch into an almost smile as he watched her nervously tighten the knot on top of her head and tuck in a few loose strands. As she drifted out of sight, Carol’s voice broke him from his thoughts;

“So when are you going to tell her?”

Daryl looked back over at Carol, confusion apparent on his face. “Tell who, what?”

“Shannon. When are you going to tell her how you feel?”

Daryl suddenly felt oddly uncomfortable by her statement and decided to redirect his attention to his food, actively avoiding her sly gaze.

“Nothing to tell.” He mumbled.

“Oh stop it. I’ve seen the way you look at her.” Carol attempted to catch his eye but he kept his attention firmly on his plate. “You should tell her. Especially after what happened yesterday. We never know when we could lose the people we care about, I think it’s important to tell them how much they mean to us while we have the chance.”

Daryl looked up at her, taking in what she said for half a moment before shrugging it off and finishing the last of his breakfast, “Nah, I got nothin’ worth sayin’ that she’d want to hear.”

Carol rolled her eyes at him as he handed her his empty bowl, “You are so stubborn.”

Daryl ignored her comment and stood from the table, tossing his crossbow over his shoulder, and turning to walk away without another word. Before he could take off and put an end to this ridiculous conversation, Carol had one last thing to add;

“For what it’s worth, I’ve seen the way she looks at you too. I’d tell her.”

Daryl paused as her words started to soak into his brain. A strange fluttery feeling breezed through his chest but he growled and shook it away. He refused to even humor the thought by sharply reminding himself that there was no way a girl like that would look at him in any sort of special way. He shook his head and continued on with his day, which he decided in that moment would take him over to wherever Rick currently was.

***

It didn’t take Daryl long to finally spot Shannon and Rick mid conversation. He couldn’t hear them but he noticed how her hands moved while she talked like they did when she was really excited about something or really adamant about something. Rick stood crossed armed and appeared to be taking everything she was saying seriously but Daryl could never be sure with him. The man had almost as good of a poker face as he did. He got within hearing range just as Rick was responding;

“I suppose having more guards on duty does make sense. I’ll talk to Daryl and Michonne about putting a better security plan in place.”

“Did I miss somethin’?” Daryl took the opportunity to jump into the conversation.

“Shannon thinks we need more eyes out for potential threats. She also thinks we should be pulling the runs teams from going out for awhile so we don’t lead anyone else back to our location.”

Daryl briefly glanced over at the hopeful looking Shannon before shifting his focus back to Rick, “Makes sense. We haven’t been finding much stuff out there anyways the past couple weeks.”

Rick nodded slowly taking in the information, “I’ll have to check to make sure we have enough stored away to get us through for a bit. I won’t lie to you both, we took a big hit yesterday. We lost about 50% of our crops. So until we can sort that out, we’re going to be pretty dependent on what we have in storage.”

“I think we can all handle a little cut in our meal portions if it keeps all of us safe,” Shannon firmly stated.

Daryl had to admit, he was impressed by her. Standing up to Rick like this and making such bold statements wasn’t easy. He watched Rick’s reaction trying to gage what he was thinking but he remained emotionless.

“I appreciate you coming to talk to me. You make some good points. I’ll have a talk with Michonne and Daryl and promise we will come up with something.”

Shannon bit her lower lip and nodded, she didn’t look thrilled with his response but out of respect she didn’t argue anymore. She glanced up at Daryl briefly as if she was hoping he would say more but he knew this wasn’t the time or place so he remained silent. Finally she sighed;

“Alright I’ll let you guys talk. I’ll happily take as many guard duty shifts as you’ll allow, just throwing that out there.” She paused for a moment before finally turning on her heel and walking off looking deflated.

Daryl waited until she was out of sight before looking at Rick for answers, “What did you tell her?”

“Nothing. She did most of the talking.”

Daryl nodded, glancing back up to double check to make sure she was out of earshot, “She’s right ya know. We shouldn’t be sending anyone else out until we know who those people were and what they want. Can’t risk ‘em catching any of us alone out there or letting anybody else know our location.”

“Do you think whoever you saw that night was part of the group that attacked?”

Daryl thought back to that night just over a month ago when he and Shannon were in their usual meeting spot. They were talking about her damn sleeping bag when he noticed someone on the other side of the fence pacing the area. He knew right away it wasn’t a walker and ended up following him for awhile. He was hoping to find out where he came from but lost track of him. He had only told Rick at the time but if it turned out he had in fact been part of the group that attacked them, he truly regretted not finding his camp. Even more so because Tyler’s life had been threatened. If Shannon knew that he’d let him get away Daryl feared she would never forgive him;

“Yeah, I bet they were scoping the place out. There’s probably been more coming around since then. Wouldn’t be surprised if they were planning another attack.”

Rick stroked his beard as he thought through all this new information, “Then I guess we’ll just have to be ready for them.”

***

After a long conversation between Rick, Michonne and himself, a new watch plan was put in place. There was still a lot of planning and work to be done but at least this was a start to help ease the minds of the community members after such an intense experience. 

Daryl held a hand in front of his eyes to try to shade some of the blinding sun glare when he noticed a familiar blonde sitting alone on top of one of the picnic tables. He watched her as she mindlessly played with the ends of her hair while taking in the sunset. 

Part of him always felt a little creepy standing back and watching her this way but he also enjoyed seeing her in these calm moments when she thought no one was around. He finally made the trek over to her and silently took a seat beside her. She glanced over at him and smiled, the sunset making her face look like it was glowing;

“Hey there.”

“Hey,” he responded, “We all talked and we have a plan for security.”

Shannon’s face lit up as she waited for him to continue.

“Rick wants everyone to meet so we can talk about it. All the normal guard duty people and anyone else that might be good for it. We’re gonna need a lot of people.”

“When do we meet?”

“Tonight. As soon as we can get everyone together.”

Shannon jumped up immediately, “Then let’s go.”

The breeze picked up and blew a few strands of hair into her face. He smiled to himself as she groaned and tried to tuck her long hair into her sweatshirt. Mumbling something about it always getting in the way. In this moment he thought back to what Carol said. He knew he cared deeply for Shannon in a way he didn’t feel for anyone else. He felt protective of her, wanted her to be safe and happy but he hadn’t thought about it much more in depth than that. If he was being honest with himself, he didn’t really know what his feelings were. All he knew was he felt happiest when he was near her. Shannon tucked the last of her hair into her sweatshirt and pulled the hood over her head. She glanced over at Daryl and gave him a funny look;

“What?”

Daryl suddenly became very aware that he had been staring so he shot his eyes away from her, “Nothin’. Was just thinking.”

“I wish you would start telling me what was on your mind. I feel like I’m always spilling my guts to you and you’re just so quiet.”

“Nah, you don’t wanna know what I got goin’ on in my head.” Daryl shook the hair from his eyes before looking back up at Shannon who had a mischievous look.

“Try me. I bet there is nothing you could say that would surprise or frighten me.”

Daryl paused and examined her face. What if something did happen to her and she never knew how much she meant to him? But there was also the chance he would tell her and she would be so uncomfortable that they would never have the same dynamic again. It just wasn’t worth the risk. He had learned early on in life that some things were just better left unsaid. He stood up from the table and shifted his focus away from her;

“Come on. Everybody’s waitn’ for us.”

***

“I’ve asked all of you here tonight due to the unfortunate situation we dealt with yesterday. We have decided to act quickly and put a new plan into place…”

Daryl only half listened to Rick as he reiterated the details they had already discussed to the room full of people. It was a decent plan for now but they needed to start planning how they would prepare their people if another attack happened. Everyone needed to be trained and ready.

“…That’s why we are pulling all runs teams until further notice. Anyone previously doing runs is now assigned to guard duty. I’ve spoken to Tyler who is in charge of our rations and storage and he says we have enough food to get us through the next six months if we all cut back a bit on our meals…”

Daryl heard a few groans coming from behind him. He grinded his teeth together at the sound, _“Buncha babies. Can’t take a little less food over the safety of our people?”_ Daryl thought to himself. Daryl glanced over at Shannon sitting beside him, she stared unblinking at Rick, appearing to be soaking up every word he said.

“How we’re gonna make this work is everyone is going to get paired up in groups of two, we will have three groups on duty for eight hour shifts. So if anything happens, we’ll have six people ready to warn everyone else and jump into action to try to hold off any possible threats until backup arrives. In the three watch towers there are prison alarms, I ask you to use those only if we are all in immediate danger. Meaning if there are more people coming than the six on watch can handle or if the weapons are more dangerous or anything of that sort. If there is a minor problem such as you see someone or a few people that don’t belong, there are flares for you to send up in each of the towers. Understood?”

Rick glanced around at the nodding heads, “Alright good. We want to start as soon as possible so I’ll give everyone a few minutes to find their partners and time to think of any questions you have.”

Before Rick’s final thoughts left his lips the room erupted into noise as everyone started moving around and talking amongst themselves. Daryl felt a small nudge on his left arm, he looked over to see a apprehensive looking Shannon biting her lower lip;

“Any chance you want to be my partner?” She asked shyly, “If you already have someone it’s fine. I just wanted to ask because I would feel most comfortable with you especially if I have to be alone with someone for eight hours.”

Daryl couldn’t resist the smirk that rose to his lips. He thought it was kinda funny how fast she talked when she got nervous, “Course I’ll be your partner. Saves me from getting stuck with someone that don’t know what they’re doing.”

Daryl saw Shannon’s big green eyes light up but before she could say anything more, Rick called the room back to attention. He took the time to make sure everyone had selected partners and took a few minutes to answer any and all questions everyone had. Daryl tried his best to pay attention but his focus kept shifting back to the blonde sitting attentively next to him.

“We have enough people that each group will do a watch duty shift every three days. I’d like to start the shifts right away. Do I have any volunteers that want to start tonight?”

Daryl nearly jumped when Shannon’s hand shot into the air. “Daryl and I can start tonight.”

Rick nodded and smiled at the two of them before asking around to the others. Daryl shot her a mock look of annoyance, “You didn’t ask me first if I wanna start tonight.”

Shannon shrugged sheepishly blinking those long damn eyelashes at him, “Better to ask forgiveness than permission sometimes.”

Daryl nudged her softly with his elbow, “You owe me.”

“Shit, that’s twice now. I’m starting to rack up quite the tab with you.” Shannon giggled quietly.

The meeting ended with everyone’s assigned days and times. Shannon and Daryl were suppose to meet in guard tower three in an hour. Before they parted ways, Shannon thanked him again for being her partner and told him she would see him soon. 

Daryl watched her go until she was out of sight. He’d be lying to himself if he said he wasn’t looking forward to watch duty with her. But as much as he liked the idea, he couldn’t stop the nervous feeling starting to creep up in the pit of his stomach. Eight hours alone in a watch tower with this girl was either going to end up being really bad or the one of the best decisions he had ever made.


	10. Chapter 10

Shannon took a deep breath as she climbed the last few steps up to the guard tower, urging herself not to look down. Heights were definitely not her favorite thing. She wasn’t terrified by any means but she most certainly preferred to be safe on the ground. The heavy backpack pulling on her shoulders wasn’t helping the situation, so when she hopped over the ledge she was grateful to finally have her feet firmly on a flat surface. 

She was about to tell herself it wasn’t as bad as she thought until she looked ahead and saw Daryl sitting on the ledge, his legs dangling over the sides. She sucked in a quick breath as the image of him tumbling over the side assaulted her mind.

“Could you not sit so close to the edge?” Shannon meekly remarked as she approached. Daryl looked up at her with a raised eyebrow.

“What? You afraid of heights or somethin’?”

“Not entirely. But they don’t exactly make me feel comfortable. Especially when I see a friend is inches from slipping and plummeting to his death.” 

Daryl got a mischievous look in his eyes and started to slide forward, skirting himself further off the edge. Shannon felt sweat break out across the back of her neck and threw her hands over her eyes.

“Oh please don’t do that!” She gasped, “I already regret making you my partner.”

“Come on I’m only teasing.” Daryl laughed, “Come sit. It’s not bad, I swear.”

Shannon peaked through her fingers at him, “Absolutely not.”

“You can’t be on watch duty if you’re scared. Come on,” he held out his hand to her, “I ain’t gonna let you fall.”

She momentarily hesitated before grabbing hold of his hand, practically letting him drag her to the edge. Stiff as a board, she slowly eased her self down to sit beside him, but kept her legs firmly to her chest so as not to let them hang over the side like his was.

“See? Not so bad.”

Shannon tried to swallow but her mouth was too dry, “Can you get this backpack off of me? It’s kinda heavy.”

Daryl reached behind her and pulled it off with some effort, “The hell you got in here?”

“A few bottles of water,” Shannon smirked at him, “and a surprise.”

Daryl gave her a question look before peering into the backpack, “You brought that damn sleeping bag?”

Shannon couldn’t help but laugh, “I figured it would be cold up here! Don’t worry, I promise I’ll share. Give it here.”

Daryl begrudgingly handed her the sleeping bag and the backpack. She removed the water bottles, handing one to Daryl and leaving one for herself. She then tossed the pack and the sleeping bag to the side for later use. She felt a tap on her shoulder as Daryl handed her a Browning BLR rifle.

“You ever use one of these before?”

Shannon readjusted the gun in her arms and peaked through the attached scope, “Yeah, a long time ago. But I bet I’ll remember, it’s probably like riding a bike.”

“What’d you use it for?”

“My Dad made me try out all sorts of guns over the years. He thought it was important that I learn to protect myself. My Mom hated it.” Shannon felt the emotion start to rise in her chest at the memory of the two. She cleared her throat and familiarized herself with the weapon as a distraction.

“What happened to them?”

Shannon looked over at Daryl, she didn’t like to even think about it let alone talk about it. But just looking into his curious eyes, she felt that familiar pull in her gut that made her want to tell him all her deep dark secrets. She swallowed the lump that was forming in her throat and retraced her thoughts to when it all started;

“We were lucky in the beginning. We all found each other and got out fast. My Mom was always really prepared for emergencies so we had food, water, clothes, camping equipment, all kinds of important supplies. A few weeks in we found another group with a camp. Must have been about 12 other people. I didn’t trust them at all, which I guess is no surprise since I have trust issues but this was different. They were skittish and on edge all the time, and there didn’t seem to be any loyalty at all. I just had a bad feeling about them.” Shannon felt tears come to her eyes but she tried to blink them away.

“It’s okay, you don’t have to talk about it.” Daryl said lightly.

“No I think I do. I’ve never talked about it and I can’t just keep pushing it down.” Shannon quickly wiped away a few fallen tears, “Sure enough I was right about them. One day we were overrun by walkers. Instead of everyone teaming together and fighting them off or at least helping each other escape, they just grabbed all the supplies they could get their hands on and ran off. They grabbed most of our supplies too, anything we didn’t have on us they grabbed. Being the only ones left, we were surrounded, there was no way out. So my Dad…” 

Shannon felt her mouth go dry, nausea building up in her stomach at the memory. “My Dad dived at one and he let it bite him so that they would all go after him allowing us to break free and escape. My Mom and Tyler started running but I couldn’t leave him like that. He was screaming and they were ripping him to shreds and I just couldn’t let him die like that. So I shot him.”

Her hands started to tremble making the gun jittery in her lap. She felt like she was about to lose it until she saw Daryl’s hand reach over and tenderly put it over her’s bringing her some much needed comfort. Without thinking it through first, she interlaced her fingers with his and pushed her body closer to him, leaning her head on his shoulder. He didn’t pull away or stiffen up like she expected him to so she remained there while she continued her story;

“I was frozen in place after I shot him. I probably would have died there too but Tyler realized I hadn’t followed them so he ran back and dragged me off. While I was trying to help my Dad, my Mom got bit. We carried her as far as we could but there was nothing we could do for her. She didn’t want to turn and she didn’t want to slow us down so she asked me to shoot her. I didn’t want to do it. How could I kill both of my parents? But the only other alternative was to leave her there to die and I couldn’t do that to her. We said our goodbyes but before I could do it, she made me promise that I would protect Tyler, that I would keep him safe no matter what. So I promised her that I would, and it was the last thing I ever said to her.”

Shannon felt the tears starting to soak Daryl’s vest but she didn’t care. It felt good to finally get it all out, to hear it out loud for the first time. She didn’t feel better but she felt okay and that was at least a start. The two of them stayed in that cuddled position for longer than Shannon felt appropriate for two platonic friends but she didn’t want to leave the comfort and warmth of him. The logical part of her brain ruined the moment by harshly reminding her that this was the kind of behavior she needed to avoid if she didn’t want to lose him. So when the tears finally stopped, Shannon reluctantly tore herself away and scooted back over a comfortable distance from him. Shannon cleared her throat and tried to change the subject to help ease the heaviness she brought into the air.

“Guess I’m shit at watch duty, huh? Haven’t even been paying attention. Probably cause I’m so tired. I didn’t get any sleep last night.”

“You should rest your eyes for a bit. I can handle this on my own for awhile.”

Shannon sharply turned towards him, “No I can’t do that to you. I’m fine, really.”

Daryl scanned her face before reaching over and tucking a loose strand of hair behind her ear, “You’re no good to me tired. I’ll wake you up when I need you.”

Shannon still felt a tingle where his hand had grazed her cheek. Between that distraction and her pure exhaustion, she couldn’t bring herself to argue with him as she normally would, “Thanks, I appreciate it. I promise I just need 20 minutes and I’ll be fresh as a daisy.”

“You take as long as you need. Besides, now you owe me three things.”

Shannon choked out an unexpected laugh as she unrolled her sleeping bag, “You better start telling me how I can repay you or this tally is never gonna shrink.”

“I’ll think of something.” He gave her one of his wicked half smiles as she tucked herself in. 

“Promise you’ll wake me when you need me?”

“Promise. Go to sleep, Shannon.”

He didn’t have to tell her twice. Before she knew it, Shannon had fallen into a deeper sleep than she had experienced since before the world fell.

***

_Shannon dreamt of fire surrounding her. The red hot flames licked at her face and the smoke danced through her hair. The images were terrifying but she didn’t feel afraid. She didn’t feel the urge to run or scream, instead she felt curious and excited. The flames beckoned to her like an old friend, the smoke singing sweet words into her ears. She wanted to embrace the fire, let it consume her and fill her with it’s burning light. She reached her hand out and let the fire softly kiss her fingertips. Her curiosity taking control of her body, she slowly walked towards the fire and it didn’t feel like death, it felt like life. As the flames wrapped it’s arms around her, Shannon felt herself being gently pulled from sleep._

She started to blink her eyes open but had to shield them from a sudden burning light. When her sight had properly adjusted she realized with awe that it was the sunrise that had disturbed her slumber. It was then that she suddenly remembered where she was and what she was suppose to be doing. She sat up with a start and shot her focus over to Daryl who seemed as relaxed as could be leaning against the wall. His arms resting on his knee while the other leg draped over the side.

“Why didn’t you wake me?” Shannon said, her voice still groggy from sleep. Daryl glanced over at her unfazed.

“Told you, you were a heavy sleeper.”

“Oh no,” Shannon’s hand went to her mouth, “Did you try to wake me? Oh I’m the worst I’m so sorry.”

“Nah, relax. I’m just messing with you. You needed the sleep, so I let you sleep.”

Shannon realizing the position she was in and started self consciously combing at her bedhead hair, “How long was I out?”

“Judging by the sunrise, I’d say about seven hours.”

“Are you serious?” Shannon’s jaw dropped open, “I haven’t slept that long in… Well since I had my own bed and my own apartment.”

“Guess you sleep better with me.” Daryl’s ear rapidly turned a violent shade of red, “That didn’t come out right.” 

Shannon burst into a fit of immature giggles to Daryl’s annoyance. He shot her a look but the laughter wouldn’t stop, “I’m sorry, it was funny.”

Daryl grumbled and looked back out at the sunrise. Shannon slowly crawled over to Daryl, trying to stay as far back from the edge as she could. “Do you want to rest your eyes for a bit? I can watch now.”

“Nah, don’t have much time left on our watch. I might as well stay up.”

“Ok well next time you can sleep and I’ll keep watch.”

“Yeah, we’ll see. I think I rather save up those favors for something good.”

Shannon smiled and scooted herself a little closer, daring herself to hang a foot over the edge. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Daryl nod in approval. Shannon took in a deep, cool breath as she admired the rising sun. She couldn’t believe how rested she felt and how clear her mind was. She’s wasn’t sure how long it would last but in this moment, sitting in the guard tower with Daryl, she felt peaceful, she felt truly happy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a short little chapter today. I promise things get more interesting again soon! Thanks for reading!


	11. Chapter 11

Shannon grumbled to herself as she dug through the box of random items she had claimed as her own. She could never understand why she could never find anything, even when everything she owned in the world fit inside a small crate. She proceeded to pull things out and let them fall to the floor in hopes of narrowing it down to the pair of gloves she was looking for. The past few weeks the nights had gotten colder and she refused to be out on watch duty another night with freezing hands.

Her fingers wrapped around a thick sock which she almost threw over her shoulder until she felt how firm it was. Curious, she reached her hand inside only to pull out a few small bottles. She laughed to herself when she remembered what they were. She closely examined the mini bottles of rum and whiskey that she had found just over a month earlier. She grinned, thankful that she had come across them as she tried to calculate dates in her head. She was never truly sure what the actual date was but she tried her best to estimate and if her calculations were correct, she was guessing Tyler’s birthday was right around the corner. 

On one of their lasts runs before the attack happened, she had come across these little treats hidden in the cash register at a grocery store. She knew she had wanted to save them for a special occasional and she couldn’t think of a better one than her brother’s 21st birthday. It might be the apocalypse but she’d be damned if her brother couldn’t have his first legal drink.

Shannon quickly shoved them back in the sock and tucked them away safely at the bottom of the box for the future celebration. It was there that she finally stumbled upon the missing gloves. She snatched them up and threw the miscellaneous items back in the box before pushing it under her bunk. Just then she heard a light tapping on her cell bars, her eyes followed the sound and landed on the very person she was thinking of standing in the doorway.

“Hey, Tyler.” Shannon smiled, “What can I do for you?”

“You busy?”

“About to head to guard duty but I can be a few minutes late. What’s up?”

“I’ve been thinking about it and I think it’s about time I learned how to use some weapons so I can properly defend myself if I have to.”

Shannon tried to hide her delight by maintaining a serious tone, “That’s smart. I’m glad that’s something you want to do.”

“Can you teach me?” Tyler hesitated a moment, “I know Dad taught you a lot but it was never my thing so I don’t even know where to begin.”

“Of course! I can teach you tomorrow. I’m best with hand guns but I also have a basic knowledge of some larger guns. Someone told me Carol knows her way around a knife. I’m sure if you ask her she’d be happy to teach you some things.”

Tyler nodded, the hint of a smile starting to appear on his face. “Ok perfect. I appreciate it.”

“Why the sudden change of heart?”

“I guess it started after the attack on the prison. I felt so guilty for so long and then one day I woke up and realized the world had changed and if I didn’t start adjusting myself then there was no way I could survive let alone protect anyone. I was so against it for so long because I was afraid of the kind of person I would become but then I reminded myself how you adapted to this new world but didn’t let it change you, not in a bad way at least and I figured, why can’t I do the same?”

“Kinda what I’ve been telling you for ages.”

“Yeah well, some things you have to figure out on your own.” Tyler shrugged, “I’ll let you get to guard duty. First lesson tomorrow morning?”

Shannon nodded, “Bright and early. We have a lot to cover.”

“By bright and early, I’m going to assume you mean after lunch, right?”

“Nope. Bright and early as in you can say good morning to the sunrise on your way over.”

Tyler groaned, “Even in a world with no more deadlines or schedules, you still don’t know how to slack off, huh?”

“Not if you wanna get things done and done right,” Shannon put on her gloves and pulled her hood over her head before heading to the doorway. “And believe me, if you’re gonna learn the proper way to use a gun, you wanna do it right.”

Tyler only nodded, “Whatever you say, sis. Now go, I’ve kept you from Daryl long enough.”

Shannon rolled her eyes and gently pushed her brother half jokingly as she passed by him, “You’re never gonna let that go, are you?”

“Nope.” He called out to her, “Not a chance.”

***

The winter wind cast a chilling breeze over to the guard tower causing Shannon to pull the unwrapped sleeping bag tighter over her shoulders. Entering into hour four of watch duty, Shannon was starting to feel the beginnings of restlessness. She didn’t do well standing in one place for so long and even after a month of shifts, it still wasn’t getting easier. 

She adjusted her position, stretched her fingers and tried to fight the yawn that was trying to make it’s way to the surface. Struggling to find anything to keep herself alert, she let her eyes wander from the fences and let them drift to the one enjoyable factor in these long shifts. Daryl stood leaning against the railing, his bow laying relaxed on his arm, his eyes trained forward. She smiled to herself as she took a moment to enjoy the view before breaking the silence;

“I know it’s a good thing that nothing is happening. But man am I bored.”

Daryl met her eyes, “This was your idea, ya know.”

“And it was a smart idea. Something that needed to be done.” she replied “But I’m still bored. How about you entertain me?”

Daryl raised an eyebrow at her, “How?”

“I dunno. Tell me a funny story.”

“Don’t have many funny stories.”

Shannon shrugged and let her focus return to the fences, “I’m sure you can think of something.”

A long paused followed and Shannon felt that oncoming yawn again. To keep her mind awake, she started going over the lesson she would be doing with Tyler the following day. She tried to rehearse in her mind the best way to help him remember all the important things he needed to know when the silence was broken again;

“Alright I got a story.”

Shannon immediately redirected her attention, “Oh yeah? Do tell.”

“When I was a kid and I was just learnin’ how to hunt, I was awful. Couldn’t track for shit, I was too loud, scared everything away, and my aim was bad. My brother, Merle, didn’t help either, he just laughed at me.”

“This doesn’t sound like a funny story at all.”

“It gets funny, just listen,” Daryl paused in order to get his thoughts back together, “I was sick of him giving me shit so I got up real early one morning and told myself I was gonna stay out until I brought somethin’ back. So I went out before the sunrise and spent hours trying to find anything.”

Shannon waited in anticipation, “Did you find something?”

“Oh yeah I did. I heard somethin’ going through the trees and saw a flash of what looked like a deer. I followed it for a real long time. I kept tellin’ myself that Merle was never gonna rag on me again when I brought a deer home. It stopped but I couldn’t really see it good so I kept getting closer to it. I was just about to shoot it when it ran at me.”

Daryl paused and looked at Shannon before shaking his head and looking out at the horizon, “Turns out it was a damn dog.”

Shannon’s jaw dropped open but after the initial shock the laughter burst from her, “What? How the hell did you mistake a dog for a deer?”

“It was brown and tall and in the woods. And I was a kid.”

“Ok fair enough, but still!” Shannon managed through giggles. “Did you ever get anything?”

“Nah not that day but eventually.”

“See you persevered! Funny story with a good morale at the end. Good job, Dixon.”

Daryl shrugged nonchalantly before lowering himself to the ground, he let his legs hang over the edge while keeping his eyes trained on the horizon. “What about you? Got a funny story?”

Shannon decided to also sit as she racked her brain for some interesting anecdote. “My Dad and his brothers got kicked out of the hospital the day I was born.”

Daryl shifted his eyes to hers, “Well that’s the most redneck thing I’ve heard in a while.”

Shannon laughed but shook her head, “Not redneck. Irish. My Dad was one of seven Irish boys. The Callahan brothers, they were practically inseparable. I guess all seven of them were there for my birth. When my Dad came out to tell them he had a daughter they all popped champagne and cracked open bottles of whiskey right there in the hospital waiting room. I was the first Callahan girl born in years so I guess it was something to celebrate. They made quite the commotion singing through the hospital halls and drinking the booze right from the bottles so they all got kicked out. I guess it didn’t bother them because they were all so happy they kept on celebrating through the streets.”

Shannon couldn’t help but smile remembering the enthusiastic way her Dad would tell the story and how her Mom would just huff in the corner, “My Mom wasn’t too pleased about it. That’s probably why when she got offered a job in Georgia a year later she took it without question and moved us out here. I think she was trying to get away from his family but little did she know that nothing could keep them apart. I can’t remember a day from my childhood when at least one of my Uncles wasn’t visiting us. Drove my Mom nuts but Tyler and I loved it.”

“Sounds nice.” Daryl murmured.

“It was. Family was real important to them. They use to always say that blood was thicker than water. I guess it was suppose to mean family always comes before anyone else.” Shannon reflected, “What about you? What was your family like?”

Daryl shifted uncomfortably and focused his attention back out to the fences, “My Mom died when I was a kid and my Dad was an asshole. My brother was an asshole too but he at least looked out for me.”

“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have asked.”

“It’s fine. The people here are more my family than they were. That’s all that matters.”

Shannon contemplated the thought, “Yeah I guess family isn’t always blood. But I suppose that’s a good thing.”

Daryl only nodded while keeping his attention on the fences and the woods in front of them. Shannon embraced the silence and let her mind wander while keeping her eyes firmly scanning the area. That freezing winter breeze picked back up almost knocking the sleeping bag from her shoulders. She went to pull it closer around her until she realized she probably wasn’t the only cold one up on that guard tower. Shannon timidly bit her lower lip contemplating her next move. After another moment, she spoke up;

“You cold?”

Daryl glanced back over at her and shrugged.

“You can take a turn with the sleeping bag if you want. I’ve kinda been hogging it.” 

Daryl shook his head briefly, “Nah, I don’t wanna take that from you. You look freezing.”

Shannon bit her lip again, she couldn’t deny that her little crush on the man still hadn’t faded like she hoped it would. She had been careful with her behavior but something inside of her was tempted to be a little more daring tonight. Even though the sensible part of her was telling her to stop, she opened her mouth anyways;

“It’s a pretty big sleeping bag when it’s open up like a blanket,” she hesitated for half a second before continuing her thought, “We could share.”

The silence that followed felt excruciating but Shannon refused to backdown from the intense eye contact they were maintaining. She heard her steady heartbeat in her ears as she watched Daryl raise an eyebrow in her direction, almost daring her to take back her offer. The fear of rejection took over her senses causing what was surely only a few seconds to feel like hours but Shannon watched in disbelief as Daryl nodded once;

“Alright. We’ll share.”

As nonchalantly as possible, she sat down next to him and tossed the unzipped sleeping bag over both their shoulders. Shannon couldn’t understand why her heart was beating so fast. They had sat this close a thousand times, they had even held hands on multiple occasions so this was certainly nothing particularly unusual. But something felt different about this, there was something intimate about sharing a blanket with someone. But she firmly reminded herself that he was just a friend and they were merely sharing warmth on such a cold night.

Shannon feared her awkwardness would give away her little crush so she tried to maintain a calm exterior and kept the conversation moving as swiftly as she could;

“My brother asked me to teach him how to use some weapons.”

Daryl kept his eyes firmly forward but nodded, “Good. About time he learned.”

“Yeah no kidding. Means I won’t have to worry about him all the time anymore.”

Daryl stole a quick glance at her before looking back out, “That’s a lie. You’ll keep on worrying about him no matter what.”

“What’s that suppose to mean?” Her tone coming out more defensively than she intended.

“Just means you care. It’s a good thing. Didn’t mean anything by it besides that.” Daryl caught Shannon’s eye but didn’t look away this time, “You worry about the people you care about.”

Feeling a little boldness take over, Shannon grinned at him, “Do you worry about me, Daryl?”

They were sitting so close together it was impossible to miss the pink color rising to Daryl’s ears or the way he dropped his eyes. She nudged him playfully with her elbow before turning her eyes back to the horizon.

“I worry about you too, Daryl.”

Shannon felt his eyes on her but she chose to avoid his gaze. Instead she grabbed her side of the sleeping bag and pulled it tighter around her shoulders, subtlety forcing her to have to move closer to him. In return she felt him move just the slightest bit closer to her. Ignoring her common sense and embracing that inner flirty personality she had tucked away a long time ago, she rested her head on his shoulder and in that position they stayed the remainder of their shift.

***

“You’re still not holding it right.”

“I’m holding it exactly how you told me to.”

“No. Put your thumb here and hold out your elbow like this,” Shannon readjusted Tyler’s grip and stance before stepping back to observe, “Much better.”

After a few days of lessons Shannon was starting to feel relatively confident in her brother’s abilities. Although she refused to tell him her opinions on the matter and kept nitpicking everything he did so it would force him to keep working on it. She was so focused on watching Tyler practice unloaded and reloading her gun she didn’t notice someone approaching her from behind.

“How’s he doing?”

Shannon nearly jumped a mile into the air causing Daryl to chuckle under his breath, “Sorry didn’t mean to scare ya.”

“Well then you probably shouldn’t have snuck up behind me.” Shannon tried to ignore the smirk plastered on Tyler’s face and the way he waggled his eyebrows at her. “He’s doing pretty good for a beginner.”

“Pretty good my ass!” Tyler shouted back, “I’ve practically got this down.”

“Over confidence can get you killed. Keep practicing.” Shannon matched his over exaggerated eye roll with a mock finger wagging.

Shannon kept her eyes on her brother in an effort to avoid Daryl’s gaze. She hadn’t seen much of him since their guard duty a few nights ago and she wasn’t entirely sure what to say, especially not with the prying eyes and loose lips of her brother mere inches away. She had come to terms with the fact that Daryl only saw them as friends, and she was okay with that. There was no time for love anymore anyways, so why start something when it was sure to end in death and heartbreak?

She tried to remind herself of this even as an intense flutter went through her heart as she witnessed Daryl approach Tyler to give him some reloading advice. She smiled to herself knowing her Dad would be proud that Tyler was making the effort to learn and that he was taking it so seriously. Her mind wandered to thoughts of how her Dad would have felt about Daryl. Her Dad had a big heart and a big laugh and probably would have overwhelmed the quiet hunter, but very much like Tyler, her Dad had a way of making everyone love him.

“Not bad.” Daryl nodded at Tyler, “Once you feel comfortable with this maybe I’ll show you how to use my cross bow.”

Tyler grinned, “Seriously?”

“That’s a big maybe.” Daryl slapped him on the shoulder before returning to Shannon’s side.

“Thanks for the lesson guys. I have to get back to the inventory building now. We’re starting to run low so I need to reevaluate some things.”

“We’re running low?” Shannon tilted her head in confusion, “I thought you said we would be solid for six months?”

“Yeah I don’t get it. I triple checked before I gave Rick an estimate. “It’s like stuff is disappearing out of thin air. But that’s what I’m working on today.” Tyler handed Shannon back her gun, “Appreciate all the help. Same time tomorrow?”

“Yeah and don’t be late this time.”

Shannon’s heart nearly stopped when she saw a wicked smile start to emerge on Tyler’s face, “You should join us tomorrow Daryl. It’d be great to have another teacher.” He paused to briefly glance at his sister, “And I know Shannon just loves spending as much time with you as possible.”

Shannon felt the deep hot blush start to burst throughout her face. Before she could smack the shit-eating-grin off his face, Tyler darted off.

“Love you, sis!” He called over his shoulder as he disappeared out of sight. 

Shannon immediately shot her head down as she pretended to examine her gun, checking it for non-existent things, desperately trying to stall in order to give her face time to return to it’s normal color. But it was hard for the blush to fade when she felt Daryl’s eye’s examining her.

“You alright there?”

Shannon nodded her head as she unloaded her gun and counted the bullets. “Yup, just making sure it’s in order.”

“You sure? Cause you’re talking real fast and you always talk too fast when you’re nervous.”

Shannon stopped mid re-load as she took in what he said. She finally looked up at him, “I do?”

Daryl only nodded in response. His piercing blue eyes intensely focused on her.

“Funny I never noticed before.” Shannon tilted her head at him, “Didn’t realize you were paying such close attention.”

Daryl looked at her more intently than he ever had before. She held her breath as it appeared he was seriously contemplating something. Shannon refused to interrupt him, forcing the awkward silence in hopes he would say what was on his mind. She didn’t know what she expected but by the look on his face it looked like it was something he was battling with.

Shannon’s hopeful nature was shattered when out of the corner of her eye she saw the flash of red warning flares from the guard tower fill the sky with their ominous light. Her heart stopped knowing the danger in what that meant but before she had a chance to fully react, that’s when she heard the gun shots.


	12. Chapter 12

Everything happened so fast.

When the gunshot rang out, Shannon didn’t even have time to react before she saw a body fall from the guard tower and land in front of the gate. She watched in horror as a group of walkers began to gather, pressing their full weight on the fences trying to get to the lifeless body on the ground. When the second shot rang out, Shannon gripped her gun and instinctively got into fight stance. Her sharp hearing trying to tune into the direction of the gun shots.

“I don’t understand,” Shannon muttered. “The shots are coming from inside the prison.”

Just as the words left her lips, she heard the prison alarm sound. Mere seconds later a large truck came crashing through the gate and five men jumped out, rapidly firing off their weapons before splitting up.

“This can’t seriously be happening again!” Shannon cried out.

Gunfire rang out as the people from the prison jumped into action but, to Shannon’s disbelief, they weren’t alone. In every other direction people who didn’t belong in their community were coming out as well and running alongside of them, trying to blend in with the chaos. The one major thing that stuck out with all of them was they were all carrying a large duffle bag. Realization struck Shannon like a bolt of lightening;

“The people in the truck are trying to cause a distraction so they can rob us. We can’t let them get away with it!” Shannon went to dart off but felt herself be pulled back. She looked back at Daryl’s fearful face, feeling his rough hand firmly holding her’s in place.

“Find Tyler and go hide.” He spit at her.

“No, I’m not doing that again! Our people need us! He’s in the inventory building, he’ll be safe there, he doesn’t need me!”

“Shannon please just go where it’s safe.” Daryl’s pleading eyes made her heart hurt but she refused to give in and allow herself to look weak again.

“We don’t have time to argue, Daryl. I can handle myself, you know that.”

He tightened his grip on her hand, ignoring her protest. He opened his mouth to say something but looked as if he changed his mind. He paused a moment longer before giving her hand one final squeeze and letting her go. He looked at her firmly as he muttered;

“Don’t be stupid. Stay safe.”

Shannon smiled softly remember saying the same thing to him once a long time ago, “You too.”

They both lingered, their hearts pounding as the fear started to sink in. Neither of them wanting to be the first one to leave the other’s side as a battle of emotions raged inside of them. But knowing if she didn’t go now she never would, Shannon finally darted off, shooting a last look over her shoulder at the man who was still watching her as she sprinted away.

The feeling of her feet pounding on the earth was exhilarating, she had felt stagnant for far too long sitting up in that guard tower. The rush of the wind against her face and how her heart rate sky rocketed made her feel alive again, almost causing her to forget about the crisis surrounding them. 

As she ran, she scanned the scene. It was a relief to see her community appearing to be better prepared this time around. She saw most of her people fighting off walkers and running towards the danger instead of away from it as they had before.

As she monitored the area, her eyes fell upon a lone stranger running with what appeared to be a fully stuffed bag. Shannon planted her feet firmly on the ground, raised her gun, took a deep breath and fired, knocking the unwelcome guest down instantly. Before she had time to congratulate herself, she heard the growling sounds of walkers approaching her from behind. She swiftly switched out her gun for her hunting knife and spun herself around.

The three walkers that were coming towards her looked alarmingly fresh which, with a sinking feeling, made Shannon realized these were newly deceased. Putting those thoughts on the back burner, she ran towards the first one, plunging her knife into it’s head. She gave a quick side kick to the walker to her left just before it sunk it’s teeth into her arm. When it hit the ground she stomped on the soft skull, causing brain matter and rotting flesh to go everywhere. Shannon cried out as the remaining one grabbed at her shirt causing her to nearly trip over the fallen walker on the ground. Regaining her balance, she hastily pulled out her gun and shot it right between the eyes.

As it fell, Shannon finally took a breath. After months of watch duty, it felt thrilling to be back in the action but she shook her head, sharply reminding herself that this wasn’t a game and overconfidence can get you killed. She took in her relatively quiet surroundings before making the decision to run to a more elevated area so she could see more. Shannon grabbed the rubber band she kept around her wrist and piled her thick hair on top of her head before breaking into a sprint up to higher ground.

She couldn’t see everything from her vantage point but she could see enough. She witnessed various members of her community pushing forward and not backing down which filled her with pride. Sasha and Tyreese stood side by side battling walkers, she saw Rick tackling a man trying to make off with some of their remaining crops, and most importantly she spotted Daryl taking down two walkers with one arrow. After releasing a sigh of relief she set her sights on where she was most needed, Her eyes fell upon the broken gate, and the men loading up the truck with goods, _their_ goods.

A fiery rage burned inside of Shannon and she raised her gun to try to take them down. To her dismay, she realized they were too far out of reach for her weapon. She was about to run down to stop them when she saw a flash of color out of the corner of her eye. She spun in that direction to see a young man in a red winter vest bolting out of the inventory building about a 100 feet away. Her heart stopped when she saw Tyler racing after him, his high speed catching up quickly to the red vested boy and taking him down in a tackle. Neither of them clearly willing to give up without a fight, the two began rolling around throwing punches at each other.

Shannon felt the fear start to trickle into her blood stream, threatening to overtake her but she told herself to be calm. Fear helps no one. She pulled out her gun to try to take a shot at the offender but her hands were trembling and they were too close together for her to trust her aim. She sucked in a deep breath and dashed towards the two trying to ignore the sound of her heart pounding in her ears.

Her eyes wouldn’t leave her brother as she saw him get thrown to the ground and pinned. She should have been watching her step instead because she suddenly felt herself be propelled forward as she hit a soft patch in the dirt. She flew through the air and then tumbled over, landing too hard on her knees. The pain came fast and sharp as she rolled over and tried to sit up. Doing her best to ignore the injury, her eyes shot back over to her brother. To her horror, she could see two walkers coming up fast on the fighting boys who didn’t seem to notice the approaching danger.

“Tyler! Look out!” Shannon screamed. Even at their distance she saw Tyler’s eyes lock with hers before he punched the red vested stranger in the face and jumped up, turning abruptly to stab the walker in the head. As if in a living nightmare, she watched in slow motion as the boy grabbed the other walker from behind and threw it with full force at the unsuspecting Tyler. His body being flung to the ground, the walker and it’s snapping jaws crushing him from above.

The pounding in Shannon’s ears grew louder, her breathing shallow, she tried to stand but the pain in her knees caused her to cry out. With trembling hands she raised her gun and aimed it at the walker. She did her best to slow her breathing to steady her hand and help with her aim. Just as she was about to pull the trigger, an intense burning pain shot throughout her scalp. Before she knew what was happening, she had been pulled to her feet by her hair, her gun being forced from her grip. She whipped around and found herself face to face with a stranger with steel blue eyes and yellow teeth which he beamed in her direction.

“What’s a little thing like you doing with a big ol’ gun like this?” He condescendingly purred at her.

Shannon flung herself around in an attempt to break away from this man but he grabbed her back, wrapping his fiercely strong arm around her chest.

“Where do you think you’re going, girl?”

All the efforts and reminders to stay calm left her body instantly and was replaced with a blinding panic. Shannon flailed her arms and kicked her legs trying with all her strength to get away. She screamed every profanity she knew at this man but he held her in place with little effort. When she knew it was hopeless she focused her attention back on her brother who, to her relief, appeared to have broken free of the walker. But her heart sunk as she watched him continue to chase after the young man in the red vest. _“What the hell is he doing?”_ Her rational thoughts screamed out.

Her current capture must have taken her pause in fight as a good sign because he started twirling the fallen pieces of her hair in his fingers. His hot, foul breath strong on her face as he deviously whispered in her ear;

“Good girl. That’s better. No need to fight me, I can be real good to you. We’re all suppose to bring something back with us, how about I bring you back?”

A burning anger replaced her fear as the man put his lips to her neck. Her fingers curling into a fist as she felt the man’s hands start to roam her body. Without waiting for the right time, Shannon spun herself around and with all the strength she had left in her, she threw a punch square at the man’s seemingly already broken nose.

To her delight, he screamed out in pain as blood rushed down his face. But he wasn’t giving up without a fight as he tried to reach out and grab her again, Shannon responded by giving the man a powerful front kick that forced the man from his feet and sprawling him on his back. Shannon released the breath she had been holding when she saw his head had landed on a large rock, knocking him out cold. She pried her gun from his hands and dashed off.

Shannon’s body immediately felt sore and winded but she knew there was no time to rest, not until she could get to her brother and make sure he was safe. Her panic increased when she saw the two boys were headed straight for the truck that was being loaded by the intruders. Shannon ignored the raging pain in her body as she forced herself forward, using all the adrenaline she could muster she sprinted towards them.

She begged and pleaded with the wind to let her get to him in time or to make him turn around and back down but her prayers were all in vain. She watched in horror as one of the men near the truck noticed the two approaching boys. As his eyes landed on Tyler, he pulled out a gun and aimed it right at him. The scream left her lips without warning as she heard the gun shot ring out and watched her brother fall backwards, grabbing at his stomach.

Shannon had never run so fast in her life but everything around her felt like it was happening in slow motion. The boy in the red vest jumped into the tuck and they all took off through the busted fence, the people of the prison ran towards the gate to kill off the last few walkers and to block off the entrance way, and she saw her brother as the blood soaked through his shirt and stained the ground beneath him.

Shannon fell to her bruised and bleeding knees but felt no pain as she pulled her brother’s broken body into her lap. The tears streaming down her face, half blinding her as she screamed out for help;

“Someone get Hershel! It’s an emergency! Someone help please!”

A small group started running towards them as she felt her brother’s cold hand grab hers and, with great effort, he turned himself around to face her. His green eyes filled with sorrow as he shook his head, “No point. It’s too late.”

“Don’t say that. You’re gonna be fine.” Shannon choked out.

Her body froze in terror as her brother pulled away from her. He adjusted himself so he was sitting directly in front of her before he reached his hand up to the collar of his shirt. Shannon’s broken heart officially stopped beating when he pulled it back revealing the unmistakable wound on his shoulder blade.

“The kid threw a walker on me. I tried to pull it off but it bit me before I could.”

Shannon couldn’t control the sob that escaped her throat. Her shaking hands tenderly grabbing her brother’s face, “This can’t be true. This can’t be happening.”

A small group of community members came rushing to the scene but Shannon ignored all of them and kept her focus on her brother as he interlaced his fingers with her’s.

“You need to promise me you won’t shut down,” Tyler’s voice was strong despite it barely being above a whisper. “I know you and you are going to want to go to a dark place. You can’t do that. These people are your family now. They’re going to take care of you.”

“Stop talking like that. You’re going to be fine.”

“Shannon stop. You know I’m not gonna make it.” Tyler swallowed trying to fight the overwhelming pain in his stomach, “It’s going to be okay. I wasn’t meant for this world anyways.”

“That’s not true. You were going to make this world better. We need people like you.”

“No, this world needs people like you. You’re strong and caring, and kind of a bad ass.” He laughed, “Promise me you won’t stop being you. Promise me you won’t shut down, promise me you’ll keep fighting and caring and won’t ever give up.”

A fresh set of tears fell from Shannon’s eyes, “I can’t. I couldn’t even keep my last promise. I couldn’t keep you safe.”

“That wasn’t fair of Mom to ask you that. It was an impossible promise to keep. And you did keep me safe, for as long as I was meant to be here. Now promise me you won’t ever give up.”

Shannon’s grip on her brother’s hand tightened as she felt him start to weaken, “I can’t do this without you. Please don’t go.”

“You can and you will. Now promise me.”

Shannon’s throat went dry as she nodded her head, “I promise.”

Tyler’s face relaxed, his pale features growing whiter by the second. She watched him blink back a few tears as he opened his mouth to speak, “Thank you for everything you’ve done for me. Before and after the new world. You’re not only the best sister anyone could ever hope for, you’re my best friend. I’m so lucky.”

“No, I’m the lucky one.” Shannon swallowed down her sob as she planted a gentle kiss on his cold forehead. “I’m not ready to lose you. Not yet, not ever.”

“Do you remember what Mom said to us at Grandpa’s funeral all those years ago?”

The memory came back to Shannon like an old home movie. Fresh, hot tears fell from her eyes as she nodded;

“This isn’t goodbye, it’s see you later.”

Tyler nodded and gave her hand a light squeeze, “See you later, Shannon. Love you, sis.”

Tyler gave his sister the smallest of smiles before he closed his deep green eyes for the last time.

Shannon’s broken heart sped up and her world starting spinning as she felt her brother’s hand fall from her’s. Denial overpowered her rational thoughts making her feel as though she was in a nightmare that she desperately needed to pull herself out of. Her breathing was frantic as she started screaming out to him;

“Tyler! Tyler! Don’t do this to me!” She grabbed at his shirt and tried to pull him back up, “Wake up! Open your damn eyes!”

A strong arm wrapped itself around her waist and gently tried to pull her away from his body but she aggressively fought back. Her sobs mixed in with her screams as she tried with no success to revive him. Despite the growing darkness taking over her vision, she saw Rick come into view. He put a tender hand over her’s, his soft eyes filled with sympathy. 

Shannon felt her breathing begin to calm down at the familiar face until she saw him pull out a knife and started making his way towards Tyler’s limp body. The reality of what was happening came crashing down causing her panic attack to take on full force. Shannon tried to dive at Rick but felt herself being held back by those same strong arms still wrapped around her waist.

“Don’t you touch my brother you son of a bitch! You’re gonna kill him!”

“He’s already gone, Shannon. We have to do this so he doesn’t turn.” Rick did his best to sound compassionate over the urgency.

“No!” She screamed, “Tyler! Get up! Get up right now! This isn’t funny! You’re scaring me now! Get up!”

She kept screaming even as she felt herself be lifted by her waist and pulled away. She pounded on the arms holding her in place, trying desperately to break free until she heard Daryl’s soothing voice in her ear. She couldn’t hear his words over her sobs as she cried out to him to let her go. She tried again to get to Tyler one last time but suddenly Sasha stepped into her line of sight. Her normally serious face filled with tenderness.

“I need to be with him,” Shannon choked out.

Sasha only shook her head and put a hand on her shoulder, “No you don’t. I wouldn’t want to see if it was Tyreese. Just keep looking at me.”

Shannon felt her sobs begin to settle as she kept her eyes locked on Sasha’s, taking small amounts of comfort in Daryl’s arms that were wrapped around her. The world seemed to stop in those brief seconds, as if everything ceased to exist and nothing mattered anymore. A strange surreal calm overtook Shannon and she felt as if she could float away in that very second. 

The peaceful moment of the nothingness was ripped from her when she saw Tyreese approach his sister, fresh tears leaking from his eyes. He gave her a quick nod before looking over at Shannon. The pain apparent in his dark brown eyes.

In that moment, all the denial left her body and a sinking despair overwhelmed her as she truly grasped that this was real. She knew her younger brother, the person she told everything to, her calming spirit, her best friend, was gone forever. 

The sounds of the soft murmurs of people surrounding her was replaced by an ear splitting ringing. Her eyes fell upon the broken body of her little brother just as she felt Daryl’s arms finally leave her. Without giving it a second thought, Shannon took off running.

Shannon’s heart was breaking into a million pieces, but she kept running. She heard the people behind her calling out her name, but she kept running. Her vision was blurry from the tears that wouldn’t fall from her eyes, but she refused to stop running. Stopping meant looking back, and looking back was unacceptable. So she kept running. 

She felt no pain in her damaged body, she felt no fear or sadness, she only felt the instinctual need to get away. So she pushed herself to the limits as she ran through the broken gate and didn’t look back. It reminded her of a day so many months ago when her and her brother ran to escape an approaching herd, but this time when Shannon reached out her hand, there was no one to grab onto. And she knew there would never be anyone to grab onto ever again. 

So she kept running.


	13. Chapter 13

Shannon had no idea how long she had been running but it was long enough that the pain in her body was finally winning out the battle against the pain in her heart. She felt her legs start to give out from underneath her as she slowed to a stop. She sucked in deep excruciating breaths as she allowed herself to feel all of her aches and sores. She welcomed the pain like an old friend, desperate to feel something other than the numbness starting to blanket itself over her heart.

She crawled to a tree and let herself lean up against it. She tried to close her eyes but all she saw was his pale face as the light started to leave him. She wanted to scream but couldn’t produce a sound, she wanted to cry but all her tears had dried up, she wanted to die but she knew it wasn’t possible. So instead she sat listening to the hollow sounds of the empty woods hoping maybe she would just fall asleep and never wake up again.

The welcomed silence didn’t last long. Shannon’s ears perked up at the sound of loud, fast foot steps rushing towards her direction. Part of her hoped it was only a walker but she knew she would never be that lucky. Just then she saw a familiar face crashing through the trees. A very out of breath, frightened looking Daryl locked his eyes on her’s and raced forward, finally dropping to his knees in front of her. She said nothing as his panicked face looked to her for answers;

“You alright? You hurt?”

Shannon only shook her head. He stared at her in silence as his breathing finally started to return to normal.

“Why’d you run?”

Shannon barely lifted her shoulders into a shrug. “Why’d you follow me?”

“You scared the hell outta me. I didn’t know where you were going.”

“You should have just let me go.” Shannon swallowed hard as she saw the hurt pass across Daryl’s eyes.

“I’m sorry about your brother. I am. But you can’t just run off. It’s not safe out here. I’m gonna bring you back.”

“I’m not going back.”

“Stop. You’re comin’ back.”

An irrational anger filled inside of Shannon, “You can’t tell me what to do. I’m not going back, there’s nothing for me there.”

Daryl stood abruptly, his voice much harsher than she had ever heard from him, “Don’t be stupid, Shannon! Your home is back there! Your people!”

Shannon bit her tongue and turned from him determined to not let him get to her, she was succeeding until he said his next thoughts;

“You’re breaking your promise to, Tyler.” Shannon’s fierce eyes locked on Daryl as he continued, “He told you not to shut down, to not give up and that’s what you’re doing.”

Shannon jumped up and pointed a furious finger in his face, “Don’t you dare throw my brother’s words back at me!”

Daryl didn’t back down, keeping his eyes locked on hers. Shannon broke their eye contact first, turning from him and heading off in the opposite direction. She had only take a few steps before she felt a firm hand on her wrist. She refused to turn around, willing her heart to stop beating so fast, silently begging her body to pull away from him, but she stood frozen in place.

“Please don’t go.” His plea barely above a whisper, “Please come back with me. You don’t have to talk to anyone or leave your cell if you don’t want. Just please come back.”

Shannon took a shaky breath, fighting the tears that had found their way back to her eyes. The silence stretched on for what felt like an eternity before Daryl spoke up again;

“You owe me remember? You owe me three favors. I’ll cash em’ all in if you come back with me.”

Shannon turned herself back around slowly to face him. “This isn’t a game, Daryl.”

“Damn right this ain’t a game.” He spat at her, “You don’t get to do this! You don’t get to just run away! We’ve all lost people!

“He’s all I had!”

“No he ain’t! What about Rick? What about Maggie, Carol, Glenn? What about me?” His eyes shot to the ground, slowly pulling his hand from her wrist. “Please don’t do this to me, Shannon. I can’t go back without you.”

Shannon felt her heart skip a beat, her rational brain fighting with the emotional side as she took in what he said. Despite her better judgement, she opened her mouth to speak;

“I didn’t think it would matter that much to you.”

Daryl looked back up at her, his hair falling over his eyes, “Course is matters to me.” He sighed deeply, “Carol told me a long time ago that you gotta tell the people you care about how much they mean to you. I shoulda’ done it sooner but I didn’t.”

The pause that followed left Shannon in suspense, she watched him looking as if he was fighting with what his next choice of words would be. Fearing he might back out, Shannon chose to interject.

“You never tell me what’s on your mind.” She took a step closer to him, forcing him to have to look at her, “Tell me what you’re thinking about.”

Daryl searched her face, his eyes gazing at her so intently Shannon could feel the heat start to rise to the back of her neck.

“You, Shannon.” He finally said, “I think about you. All the damn time.”

Shannon felt her breath catch in her throat, “Me?”

“Yeah, I don’t know why, but I do.” Whether he intended to or not, Daryl took a step towards her, tightening the gap between them. “I like how fast you talk when you’re nervous, and I like how you can never sit still, I like your laugh, and that your forehead gets wrinkled when you’re focused, and how you don’t put up with shit from anyone, even me. I like how I feel when I’m around you.”

Shannon noticed then how close they were to each other, how she could see every line on his face and every spec of color in his eyes. For the first time she didn’t feel nervous being so close to him, she didn’t feel scared that she would ruin their friendship by showing how she felt, she didn’t care because for the first time ever, Shannon realized that Daryl cared about her as much as she cared about him.

Before giving herself the chance to overthink the moment, Shannon delicately placed her hands on either side of his face and pulled herself closer to him until their bodies were touching. When he didn’t flinch or back away she couldn’t stop herself any longer. She leaned up on her toes and placed her lips over his in the softest of kiss she could managed. She let it linger briefly before she hesitantly pulled back and closed her eyes, allowing him the opportunity to make next move. The crippling fear that he might pull away left her immediately when she felt him lean down and place his forehead against hers.

“I like you too, Daryl.” She whispered before her lips crashed onto his.

What was meant to be tender and sweet quickly turned into something else. As if all the fear they had felt had manifested itself into passion, the two lost themselves in each other’s kiss. Shannon grabbed at the back of his neck as he wrapped his arms around her waist. She felt every emotion she had felt over those past months release itself all at once. All the fear, the sadness, the excitement, the worry, came out and then went away being replaced with a deep want she had never experienced in her life. That feeling overtook her as she parted her lips to let his tongue explore her mouth. Her nails scraped against his neck in a desperate attempt to get him as close to her as she could, but it still wasn’t enough.

Almost forgetting where they were and ignoring their vulnerable position, she grabbed fistfuls of his vest and pulled him towards her until her back was pressed up against the tree. Daryl’s lips fell to her neck leaving hungry, wet kisses all over her as Shannon let her hands wander through his hair and down his chest. She had never wanted something so badly in her life and that hunger was starting to consume her from the inside out.

The pressure of Daryl pushing into her against the tree made her shirt start to ride up and she felt his calloused hands graze over her exposed skin. An involuntary moan escaped her lips and she knew she needed more of him. All sense of logic and reason left her at once and she was overtaken by this sudden need. She pulled at his leather vest letting it fall to the ground and then reached for his shirt to try to remove it. She was taken back when he swiftly grabbed her wrist forcing her to stop.

Sucking in deep breaths as if they had just come up for air after almost drowning, they watched each other. Shannon searched his eyes and only found hesitation and concern, they were no longer filled with the intense want that they had both shared moments earlier. At first the feeling that came to Shannon was only embarrassment but as that started to pass the other emotions she had pushed away started to creep back in. The loss, the sadness, the anger, and above all, the loneliness filled her up.

Tears came to Shannon’s eyes so she quickly looked away from Daryl. She felt his hand tenderly wrap around the side of her neck, his thumb tracing along her cheek bone. That familiar fluttery feeling went through her stomach at his touch but she angry pushed it away along with his hand.

“Shannon…”

“Don’t.” She snapped, “Sorry I misunderstood.”

“No, you didn’t.” He tried to get her to look at him but she refused.

“Then why would you pull away like that?”

Daryl hesitated a beat before placing his hands on either side of her face, forcing her to look up at him, “This ain’t the time or place. Don’t think I don’t want this, cause I do. But we got to get back.”

Shannon wanted so badly to believe him but she didn’t think she could take anymore heartbreak if he was just deceiving her. She watched him intensely as he leaned down and lightly grazed his lips against hers before pressing their foreheads together.

“I’ve lost so many people. I can’t lose you too. Please come back.”

Having no strength left in her to fight, her thoughts wandered to dark places.This world changes people, it was a scary reality that she had to face. Going out on her own was not only a dangerous idea for her physical state, but for her mental state as well.

_“Who do you become when you have nothing left to lose?”_ The thought danced around in her head and made her shudder. She needed the prison, she needed the people there, she needed Daryl. She needed things she could lose or she feared what kind of person she would become.

Tyler told her not to change, and the old Shannon wouldn’t have given up so easily on this man she had grown to care about so deeply. So Shannon took Daryl’s hand from her face and interlaced her fingers with his. His hopeful eyes locked with hers and she nodded to his instant relief. She took a deep shaky breath as she let him lead her back to the prison, to the home and the people she dreaded to see.

***

Shannon’s hand subconsciously tightened around Daryl’s as the front gate came into view. An overwhelming feeling of pain and anguish filling up her chest. Daryl glanced over at her fear stricken face.

“I can’t go in there.” Shannon shook her head, “Knowing he’s not there. I can’t.”

“It’s going to be ok. I’ll bring you right to your cell. You don’t have to talk to anyone.”

He gave her hand a comforting squeeze and she took a deep breath, trying to swallow the lump in her throat. As they walked through the gate she saw many of the people she had grown to care about scattered around the area. They all stopped what they were doing and looked at her as she approached. The sincere looks of understanding and sympathy on their faces brought tears to her eyes.

As she walked through the crowd she felt comforting hands being placed on her arms and shoulders, whispered words of condolences that she could barely make out filled her ears. It was an overwhelming show of emotion that she would normally shy away from, but the surreal numbness surrounding her made it feel almost comforting. She locked eyes with a tearful Maggie who grasped Glenn’s hand, she felt the tears she didn’t realize had fallen wiped away by Carol, a hand squeeze from Michonne, and a hug from Rick.

She wished she could tell everyone how much it meant to her but she couldn’t open her mouth to speak. Daryl continued to gently pull her through the crowd and the cloud of dreamlike existence followed her all the way to her cell. When they arrived, Daryl eased her to her bunk and wrapped the sleeping bag over her shoulders. Her eyes finally found their focus when he crouched down in front of her.

“What do you need?” He asked as he wiped the remaining tears from her cheeks.

“Stay with me until I fall asleep?”

She watched him nod and lean against the wall closest to her cot. His eyes never leaving her for a second. Shannon laid down, her body and mind more exhausted than she ever felt in her life. Before she shut her eyes she looked over at the silent hunter beside her.

“Thank you for bringing me back. I still don’t know what I would do without you, Daryl Dixon.”

He gave her one of those half smiles that made her chest flutter, “Go to sleep, Shannon.”


	14. Chapter 14

_Tyler’s screams ripped through the air as walkers swarmed him. The nausea building in Shannon’s stomach as she heard her brother cry out her name begging for help. Shannon raised her gun, her shaking hands barely able to hold a grip as she fired the first shot, but nothing happened. She frantically pulled the trigger again and again but still there was nothing._

_The sounds of his horrific screams tore through her heart as she saw the walkers ripping away pieces of his flesh until all she could see was blood and his green eyes as they slowly closed. She ran towards him trying to pry the monsters off but it was no use. Shannon dashed away desperately searching for a weapon but instead her eyes fell upon her Mother’s dying body laying against a tree, her flesh already starting to rot away, her eyes hollow and cold._

_“You didn’t protect him. You didn’t keep him safe.” Her Mother hissed at her through broken teeth, “You can’t protect anyone.”_

_Shannon tried to escape but instead collided with a walker as it’s teeth came down hard on her shoulder blade, the burning pain shooting through her entire body as darkness surrounded her._

Shannon’s eyes shot open and she sat straight up in her cot. She quickly checked her shoulder for a bite mark as the lingering phantom pain continued to throb. When she saw nothing there, she breathed a sigh of relief. Her heart beat started to come back down to normal as the real world settled back in around her. It felt oddly cold and lonely in her cell even though she distinctly remembered a warm presence before she drifted off. 

Her focus shifted over to where Daryl had sat beside her mere hours earlier, and her heart sunk when she saw that he was no longer there. She knew she had told him to stay until she fell asleep but she had hoped maybe he would have stayed longer. Part of her had toyed with the possibility that he would have wanted to wait until she woke up to make sure she was okay. She quickly brushed away those childish thoughts before they could fully sink into her mind. She refused admit it to herself, but she really needed him right now.

She pulled her knees to her chest and rested her head. She wasn’t sure how long it had been since she fell asleep or if anyone had come looking for her but she didn’t care. Her entire body felt heavy and her heart hurt. All she wanted to do was go back to sleep but she feared the terrible visions that might come back to her. So instead she stayed in that position, thinking about nothing, feeling nothing, wanting nothing. She had never felt so empty in her life.

The next few days were a long blur but it was hardly lonely because not long after she had woken up on that first day, Shannon started getting visitors.

Sasha came first with a fresh canteen of water. She had come to tell her that Tyreese was burying Tyler’s body that day and wanted to know if she would like to see him one last time before. Shannon barely shook her head in response and was beyond grateful that Sasha didn’t push for a different answer. Shannon suspected she was doing it out of courtesy and not because she expected her to actually want to see him. Sasha nodded and placed the water canteen on the cot, giving her shoulder a little squeeze before heading out.

The two little girls Lizzie and Mika came next. Shannon had never spoken to them before, she had only seen them around the property but her heart melted when they handed her freshly picked dandelions. Her voice caught in her throat when she tried to thank them but they seemed to understand. They stayed a short while but their time spent was filled with nice stories of how kind Tyler had been to them and how funny he was. Shannon’s heart ached but she listened quietly and patiently. Tyler had always been wonderful with kids and dreamt of one day having big family.

Shannon wasn’t sure how much time had passed after they left and when her next visitor arrived. It could have been an hour, a day, or a week, it all felt the same but when Maggie came in with a fresh canteen of water she realized it had been long enough that she felt very thirsty. Maggie scolded her when she saw the canteen that Sasha had brought hadn’t been touched and told her she refused to leave until she had finished it. As Shannon drank the water Maggie gave her condolences, her eyes were dry but Shannon could hear the deep sadness in her voice. Maggie asked if she and Tyler had been religious at all because her Father Hershel said he would be happy to have a service of some kind. Shannon silently scoffed at the idea knowing no true God would be horrible enough to take away her brother but she knew it would be something Tyler would have wanted so she nodded her head and thanked Maggie and her Dad for their kindness.

She couldn’t remember when Maggie left but before she knew it she heard another soft knock on the bars of her cell. Her head felt like it had been stuffed with stones as she turned it to face her knew visitor. Standing silently in the doorway was a very tearful Tyreese. The normally strong looking man appeared so small with his slouched shoulders and the way he was ringing his hat in his hands. Shannon felt a pulling on her heart that made her for the first time in days stand to her feet. The tears began to fall as she held her arms open, allowing her brother’s close friend to grab hold of her. The two openly sobbed until their throats were sore and the tears had dried up. Neither shared any words about Tyler but no words needed to be said. They both knew how much he meant to the other and the incredible person he had been. Before leaving, Tyreese grabbed hold of Shannon’s hand and gave it a firm squeeze, in response Shannon went up onto her tiptoes and softly planted a kiss on his wet cheek. It was the first time Shannon felt anything since she woke up.

That night Shannon tried to sleep but to no avail. Keeping her eyes locked on the ceiling she traced each crack, counted every imperfection, and searched for cobwebs. Anything to keep her mind from wandering back to her sorrows. She wished so badly she could get herself to go to her and Daryl’s secret spot like she use to do on these restless nights, but she couldn’t convince her body to budge. As the thought dwindled in her mind, she felt a twinge in her heart and couldn’t help feeling betrayed.

Where was he? Why hadn’t he come to check on her? She silently cursed herself for letting her emotions come out so strongly to him. She couldn’t help but feel she had obviously scared him off which was what she had always feared would happen. Shannon sighed and rolled over to her side, tucking her hands under her pillow. She tried to think of something positive to distract her mind from her increasingly depressing thoughts and her mind wandered to all the people who had visited.

She was pleasantly surprised by all the people who had been coming to check in on her. It gave her a small amount of comfort knowing Tyler had been so loved by so many. On top of that, she never would have guessed so many would care enough to be so concerned for her. It made her feel like she truly belonged but despite the consistent attention and visits from the people in her community, she still couldn’t help but feel alone.

The following morning didn’t come quickly but it came nevertheless. Shannon was still laying on her side hoping her body would give in and allow sleep to eventually take over when Rick came to visit her. Shannon sat up on her cot before gesturing for him to enter.

“How are you doing?” Rick’s soothing southern drawl was filled with sympathy but Shannon could only shrug in response.

“We’re having Tyler’s service today. I was coming by to see if you wanted to attend. Maybe you could say a few words about him.”

Shannon looked down at her hands resting in her lap and shook her head. 

“I really think it would be good for you to go. You need closure and to say your goodbyes to him properly.”

“I appreciate what you’re trying to do, Rick,” Shannon’s voice sounded rough from lack of use, “But I just can’t. I’m not ready.”

There was a moment of silence before she heard a slight shuffling sound that could only be Rick pulling something out of a bag, “I figured you’d want these. Not much but they were his.”

Shannon eyes shot up to see Rick holding Tyler’s hunting knife, his clipboard, and his sweatshirt. Shannon’s trembling hands reached out to take them, her stomach dropping when she caught a hint of his scent on the sweatshirt. Her throat and eyes stung trying to produce tears but the dehydration wouldn’t allow it. She looked back up at Rick, choking out the only thing she could manage to say, “Thank you.”

Rick nodded, “If you change your mind, we’ll all be there.”

Shannon clutched the items in her hands as she watched him go, waiting until he was out of sight before she whipped off her own sweatshirt and replaced it with her brother’s. She wrapped her arms around herself and closed her eyes trying to pretend for even just a second that he was still here.

The hours that followed Shannon got a handful of more visitors. Many she suspected came because of the service they had held that morning and only came to pay their brief respects because none stayed very long which was fine with her since she was starting to get tired of seeing people. The numbness she had originally felt had turned into a deep grief that she couldn’t shake and she was beginning to miss feeling empty. She desperately wished she could sleep so she could at least enjoy the nothingness but her efforts continued to be unsuccessful.

She was making another attempt at sleeping when she heard a knock, Shannon tried to stifle her groan and forced herself to sit up to see her latest visitor. She was pleasantly surprised to see Carol entering the room, she was less pleased about the large bowl of food she had brought in with her. Carol seemed to have no shame making herself comfortable as she pulled out the stool in the corner and sat a few feet in front of Shannon, forcing the bowl into her lap.

“Thanks, Carol. But I’m really not hungry.” Shannon tried to hand the food back but Carol made no effort to retrieve it.

“You only think you’re not hungry. It’s part of the grief.”

“I’m really not. If you leave this here it will just go to waste. Please take it to someone else.”

“You haven’t eaten in days. I’m not leaving until that plate is cleared.”

“Then I guess you’re my new roommate, because I’m not touching it.” Shannon regretted the harshness in her voice but she was too tired to try harder.

“How would Tyler feel if he knew you were letting yourself waste away like this?”

“Doesn’t matter. He’s gone now.” Shannon felt her throat tighten up but she fought back the tears.

“Alright. How do you think Daryl feels about you letting yourself waste away like this?”

Shannon laughed bitterly at the thought, “Daryl doesn’t give a shit about me.”

“The complete opposite. He’s worried sick about you.” Carol shot Shannon a look that made her feel engulfed in guilt but her persistent stubbornness wouldn’t give up.

“Oh yeah? Then where is he? He’s probably the only person in this place that hasn’t come to see me.”

“He hasn’t left the outside of your cell since he brought you here. He’s pretty much been your body guard. He’s even sent some people away from coming to see you when he thinks there have been too many and you’ve had enough.”

Shannon felt her broken heart start to beat again for the first time in days, “Why hasn’t he come in to see me?”

Carol simply shrugged, “Why don’t you ask him yourself? After you finish eating of course.”

Shannon looked back down at the forgotten food in her lap. Her stomach turning at the sight of it.

“I really can’t, Carol. I appreciate it but I don’t know if I could keep it down.”

Carol sat quietly for a moment almost deep in thought before finally speaking, “How would you have felt if something had happened to you and Tyler was still here and refusing to eat? How would it feel if after all the time you spent protecting him was wasted because he just let himself starve to death?”

“Tyler would never be that stupid.”

Carol raised an eyebrow at her, “And you are?”

“No,” Shannon spat out, “But it’s different. I don’t deserve to be alive when he’s dead. If I had died it would have been because I was trying to keep him safe. But the reality is he’s dead now because I wasn’t there to protect him.” Shannon felt fresh tears fall from her eyes before she had time to stop them.

“This isn’t your fault.”

“Of course it is! When everything happened, Daryl told me to find him and hide. I should have listened but I felt like I needed to prove I could be useful to the damn people in this community. I wanted to help all these people who aren’t my family or my blood and because of that Tyler got bit and shot and now he’s dead. It’s all my fault.” 

Shannon’s breathing came fast and heavy and the tears wouldn’t stop. It hurt so much worse confessing her truth out loud and she felt as if she would shatter. Carol carefully pulled the bowl from her grasp and took her face in her hands.

“You did the right thing,” Carol firmly whispered, “It is not your fault he’s gone. It wasn’t your job to protect him.”

“But it was,” she sobbed. “My Mom made me promise before she died that I would keep him safe no matter what. I couldn’t do it. He’s gone and it’s all my fault.”

All the agony, guilt and sadness came crashing down on Shannon in that instant and she couldn’t hold back. She felt Carol’s arms wrap around her and she let herself feel everything she had tried to avoid. Her tears fell freely and the pain was overwhelming but she let it out onto the shoulder of someone who also understood the grief, and anger, and the guilt. 

After what felt life a lifetime, the tears finally slowed to a stop and her breathing began to return to normal. She felt ashamed for letting her emotions come through without restraint so she kept her eyes lowered. Carol reached over and wiped the remaining tears from her cheeks and calmly spoke to her;

“I know it hurts. But that’s ok. You have to let yourself feel it or it will eat you up.” 

Shannon finally looked up at her, “I don’t want to feel this way anymore. I can’t live like this.”

“We don’t really have a choice. We’re going to lose people, it’s going to hurt, but it will pass.” A look of deep sorrow passed across Carol’s face briefly before she spoke again, “Be grateful you at least got to say goodbye. Not all of us are that lucky.”

A fresh wave of guilt washed over Shannon, “You’re right. At least I had that.”

Carol nodded and gave her a sad, thin smile before standing from the cot. “I’m going to trust you to eat all of that food when I’m gone or I’ll come back and force you to eat it,” 

The firm but lightheartedness in her voice made Shannon chuckle, “Yes, Ma’am.”

“Good. You come see me anytime, ok?”

Shannon nodded as Carol slipped out of her cell. Shannon’s eyes stayed on the empty doorway as she took in the new feelings coursing through her. There was a deep ache in her heart that she knew would remain there for a long time if not forever, but the feelings of guilt were starting to dissolve and the anger was settling. She knew life without him was unimaginable but life still had to go on. Tyler wanted her to go on, he told her to keep fighting and to never give up. Shannon didn’t feel as though she was especially good at keeping her promises, but for his sake, she had to try.

***

Shannon could scream she was so tired but she couldn’t get her brain to shut down. Hours upon hours of staring at the dark ceiling of her cell was starting to make her feel insane. Finally, when she could no longer take it, she threw back her blanket, sat up and pressed her palms hard against her eyes sockets as if she could force the rushing thoughts from her head.

She groaned at the idea of another sleepless night but knew there was nothing else she could do about it. Shannon longed for the evenings she use to meet up with Daryl in their usual spot or even the nights they spent doing watch duty together. She had never slept so well as she had when she was in his presence or after spending time with him. She felt beyond desperate for that feeling of comfort and security he always brought her.

Shannon lifted her head from her hands and let her eyes wander to the empty doorway. She began to chew on her lower lip as the memory of what Carol had told her came drifting back. She didn’t want to get her hopes up that he might be awake and nearby, but at the same time she knew she had nothing left to lose by checking.

Shannon slowly rose from her cot, crept through her cell and into the hallway. She silently talked herself into not being disappointed if he wasn’t as she held her breath and glanced around the area. Her heart skipped a beat when she locked her eyes on the lone shadowy figure sitting on the stairs just outside her cell. 

Daryl glanced up upon feeling a nearby presence and stood abruptly when he saw her standing before him. The two silently watched each other, not knowing who should be the first time speak. Shannon felt her nerves take hold as she grabbed the ends of her hair and twisted it around her finger. She looked down at the ground as she opened her mouth to speak;

“Hi.”

“Hey.”

“I can’t sleep.” Shannon finally admitted, looking back up at the cautious hunter. “I haven’t slept in days.”

Daryl nodded in return but remained quiet. Shannon knew she was past the point of being shy in front of him after their last interaction so she wasted no time in confessing her real thoughts;

“The best sleep I ever had was whenever I was with you. You make me feel safe like no one has before and it’s the only thing that helps me sleep.” Shannon tried to gage his reaction but couldn’t read his poker face, “I was thinking, if you didn’t mind…. It would really help me out…But you don’t have to if you don’t want…”

Daryl silenced her immediately when he reached over and gently grabbed hold of her face, his thumb tracing circles along her cheek bone and down her jawline, “You’re talking real fast again. You ain’t gotta be nervous with me.”

Shannon swallowed down the fluttery feeling blooming in her chest, “Could you spend the night with me?”

Relief spread across Shannon’s entire body when she saw him give her an immediate nod. Before he could change his mind, Shannon grabbed his hand from her face and led him to her cell, the nervous feeling finally starting to subside. She let go of his hand in order to grab the sleeping bag off of her cot.

“I can take the floor with the sleeping bag if you want. The cot is too small to fit both of us,” Shannon felt a blush creep onto her face at the implication and was just grateful it was too dark for him to see. Daryl responded by grabbing the sleeping bag from her and laying it down next to the cot and sitting on it. Shannon chucked and sat on her bunk, easing herself onto her side so she could be more eye level with him. She smiled at him as she began to feel the safe, relaxed feeling she always had around him start to take over.

“Carol told me you’ve been looking out for me. I appreciate it.”

Daryl shrugged self consciously, “Just didn’t want any nosy nobodies coming in and bothering you while you were grieving.”

Shannon smiled, “That the only reason?”

“No,” he paused and took the opportunity to tuck himself into the sleeping bag, “I was kinda worried you might try to run off again.”

“I’m sorry.” Shannon frowned, “If it makes you feel better, I don’t plan on going anywhere.”

“You don’t?”

Shannon shook her head, “No, this is my home. And if I left, I think I might miss you too much. So thanks for that, asshole.”

Daryl chuckled, “Sayin’ you’d miss me and callin’ me an asshole in the same sentence? Sounds like you’re getting back to your old self.”

“I am,” Shannon nodded, “I don’t feel better. But I think I’m going to be ok.”

“You should sleep.”

“I will now that you’re here.” Shannon bit her lower lip and tucked her hands underneath her face, “Don’t leave this time, ok?”

“What’d ya mean?”

“When I woke up the last time… You were gone and then I didn’t see you again. I figured I must have scared you off or something. Why weren’t you here when I woke up?”

Daryl shifted his positioning so he was laying on his back, tucking an arm behind his head, “Didn’t think you’d want me to be here.”

“Wow, you really don’t know how to take a hint, do you?” Shannon rolled her eyes and smacked his side, “I figured me trying to rip your shirt off was a clear enough sign that I wanted to wake up next to you.”

Daryl turned his head back to her but had no response, the two just stared at each other in silence. Still riding on the sudden boldness that had taken over, Shannon continued to press him for answers.

“Why’d you pull away from me? It felt like we wanted the same thing and then it just stopped.”

“Wasn’t exactly a romantic spot.”

Shannon furrowed her brow, “So what?”

“You seem like the kinda girl that’d want somethin’ romantic. Flowers and chocolates kinda shit. Not get down and dirty in the woods with a redneck.”

Shannon fought the urge to roll her eyes again and instead pulled herself up onto her elbows. She looked down at him and tried to give him the most serious of looks she could manage so that he couldn’t mistake the honesty in her words or in her eyes;

“Well I don’t really like candy and I’m allergic to flowers so you’re wrong there. I don’t need romance, never have. I just want you.”

Daryl laid there silently as he searched her face, almost appearing to be looking for her to take it back, waiting for her to say she was joking but he found none of that. Finally he snorted and draped his arm over his eyes.

“You’re more tired than I thought. You’re down right delusional.”

“The hell is that suppose to mean?”

“Girls like you don’t get with guys like me.”

“What kind of girl am I?”

Daryl briefly lifted his arm and peaked at her before covering his eyes once again and shrugging, “Go to sleep, Shannon.”

“And leave me on a cliffhanger? Absolutely not.” Shannon took her pillow and gave him a soft smack which he ignored, “What kind of girl am I? And what do you think is wrong with you?”

“Go to sleep, Shannon.” He mumbled.

Shannon sighed and lied on her back, “No matter what you say, the truth is still the truth. I like you, Daryl, a real lot, and I think you like me too. If you say otherwise, you’re the delusional one.”

“No wonder you can’t ever sleep. You never shut your damn mouth.” Daryl light heartedly tossed her way.

Shannon rolled her eyes and grinned at the ceiling, “Goodnight, Daryl.”

“Night, Shannon.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the long depressing chapter but I think it was important to show her grief and the mourning process. I feel like the show tends to gloss over it so often and it’s not fair to the characters or an accurate representation of when you lose someone you care about. Thanks for reading!!


	15. Chapter 15

Shannon felt herself being pulled from her deep dreamless sleep before she even opened her eyes. She kept her lids tightly shut for a moment longer, taking in the peacefulness of the dark and the silence, letting herself have one more minute of nothing before she had to open her eyes and face her new life without her brother in it. She took one last deep breath and then let them flutter open.

Her gaze immediately dropped to where Daryl had spent the night but her heart sunk when she saw the spot lay empty. She slowly sat up as disappointment washed over her but before she had the chance to completely wallow in self pity, she spotted a plate of food sitting on her stool and along with the plate there was also a note.

Shannon practically jumped from her cot as she rushed to see what it read;

_Stayed as long as I could but had to help Rick with something. Brought you some food. Carol told me you have to eat all of it. I’d do what she says._  
_-Daryl_

Shannon smiled to herself as she reread the note twice more. Her crushing disappointment quickly replaced with a warmth of knowing he had cared enough to stay. It put her in good spirits despite the anguish that still sat within her heart. Fueled by the first happy feelings she had felt in days, she chose in that moment that she was going to leave her cell and start trying to get back to as normal of an existence as she could manage.

She picked at the food on her plate as she put on a pair of fresh clothes and delicately tucked away Tyler’s things into the crate under her cot. It was there that she came across the sock filled with the mini bottles of alcohol she had been saving for his birthday. That familiar feeling of loss came on so strongly Shannon felt as if she would collapse, but she fought back determined to not let her weakness come through. She had promised Tyler she would be strong and wouldn’t go to a dark place and she was dead set on keeping that promise. She swallowed the lump in her throat, blinked back the tears and shoved the bottles into the pocket of her sweatshirt.

Tyler may not physically be there but Shannon would be damned if she let his birthday go by without notice.

***

It took a bit of asking around but twenty or so minutes after leaving her cell, Shannon found herself sitting in front of Tyler’s grave. Before the fall, she had never been the type to visit loved one’s graves so she wasn’t entirely sure of the protocol but she figured there was no time like the present to give it a shot.

Shannon pulled one of the mini bottles of whiskey and one of the rum minis. Taking the whiskey, she unscrewed the cap and slowly poured the contents out on the fresh grave.

“Happy birthday, Tyler.” Shannon softly spoke, “I wish you could have been here to celebrate it but I’m sure Mom and Dad are thrilled to be with you again.” Shannon took a swig from the rum, swallowing down about half of the sweet liquor.

“I hope where you are, Dad and the Uncles are getting you completely wasted and Mom is making her miracle hangover stew. Although hangovers probably aren’t a thing in heaven so I guess there’s no need. But hell, it was delicious so she’s probably making it anyways.”

Shannon wiped away a few stray tears that had fallen and then finished off the bottle, “I miss you, kid. It hurts so much that you’re not here. But I’m going to keep my promise and I’m going to keep going on no matter what.”

Just then Shannon heard the quiet sound of shoes stepping softly on the ground behind her. Shannon double checked to make sure her eyes were dry before turning to her visitor. Her heart skipped a beat when she saw Daryl standing there, his brow furrowed in concern. She gave him a small smile to help ease his worry.

“You alright?”

“Yeah, I’m okay.”

“What are you doin’ out here?”

Shannon pulled the two remaining mini bottles from her pocket, “Celebrating Tyler’s 21st birthday. Wanna join?”

“It’s his birthday today?”

“Well I’m guessing. It feels like the right time of year so why not?”

Daryl nodded and sat down beside her, eyeing the mini bottles she offered to him before picking up the whiskey.

“Good choice,” Shannon smiled as she raised her bottle in a cheers. She finished the rum in one sip this time, allowing the sweet liquid to coat her throat and warm her insides.

“I thought you liked wine.” Daryl muttered as he swallowed down the whiskey.

“I do but you have to work with what you’re given. I like rum fine, I like it better in a pina colada but you’d be hard pressed to find one of those these days, so what can you do?”

“That’s too damn sweet for me.”

“That’s what I liked about them. The sweeter the better.” Shannon grinned before placing the empty bottles against the makeshift grave marker. She tried her best to make them into the shape of a T but was failing miserably.

Shannon scooted herself closer so she could lean against Daryl’s warm body. She smiled to herself as he lifted his arm and wrapped it around her, pulling her closer to him. The two sat in comfortable silence for some time, oblivious to the world happening around them as they remained lost in their own thoughts and the contentment of each other.

“I don’t want to do guard duty anymore.” Shannon finally admitted, “I want to get back out and go on runs again.”

Daryl glanced down at her, “You think that’s a good idea after what happened?”

“Having 24/7 guard duty didn’t stop them from getting in so I doubt going on runs would be much more dangerous. And besides, Tyler said that we were running low on supplies. I blame myself for that since it was my idea to stop sending people out so I think it’s my responsibility to bring in some stuff.”

“Well if you’re going, then I’m going.”

Shannon looked up and smiled at him, “I was hoping you were gonna say that.”

Daryl paused as he looked over her face, he then hesitantly leaned down and placed a feathery light kiss on her forehead. Before he could pull away, Shannon grabbed the back of his neck and pulled him back down bringing his mouth to hers. She felt Daryl’s lips pull up into a grin before they parted;

“What are you doing to me, girl?”

Shannon smirked and pulled back enough so she could look him in the eye, “Not my fault you got the hots for me.”

“Pretty sure that’s completely your fault.”

“I don’t have any control over what your heart wants,” Shannon shrugged and winked at him.

“Who said anything about my heart? Maybe I just want one thing from you.” Daryl leaned back down and kissed her before she could argue. It was more aggressive this time, Shannon letting her lips part so she could deepen the kiss allowing Daryl to explore her mouth with his tongue. Shannon felt her heart beat speed up and a heat started to build around her so she pulled away.

“What’s wrong?” Daryl tucked a few loose strands of her hair behind her ear, this hand lingering on her face.

“I just feel really weird about making out on my brother’s grave.”

An unexpected laugh escaped from Daryl, “Yeah that’s kinda a mood killer.”

“He’d be laughing at me right now if he could see us.”

“Why?”

“He was teasing me for months about you and I. He figured out before I did that we had a thing for each other.”

“I don’t know why you keep sayin’ that. I never said I had a thing for you,” Daryl teasingly nudged her with his shoulder, Shannon responded with an over exaggerated eye roll.

“You’re such a pain in the ass.”

Daryl stood and held out a hand to her, “Come on, we should go see who’s available and willing to go on a run tomorrow.”

Shannon took his hand and stood, “Or we could go just the two of us.”

Daryl raised an eyebrow at her, “You think that’s safe?”

“Why not? Might be better. We would draw less attention to ourselves if it’s just the two of us. And besides, I’m gonna miss all that alone time we were having doing watch duty together.” Shannon shot him a flirty smile which she was pleased to see made his ears turn a light shade of pink.

“Alright. Just me and you. But we gotta take it seriously and not mess around. Can’t act like love sick teenagers in the woods, we gotta get our jobs done.”

“Speak for yourself,” Shannon scoffed “I will be a total professional out there.”

“We’ll see,” Daryl started walking, Shannon quickly caught up and grabbed his hand, doubling up her pace to stay in sync with him.

“So lovesick teenage, huh? Thought you only wanted one thing from me?” Shannon teased.

“I was talking about you,” he mumbled, avoiding eye contact with her.

“Sure you were.”

“Can I cash in one of those favors to get you to shut up?”

“Nope. You used them all up to get me to come back, remember?”

“Damn.”

“It was real sweet too.” Shannon cooed, “Something you’d do for someone you really care about. Dare I say, someone you have real feelings for.”

“Shannon, I swear to God…”

“You’re so cute when you’re flustered.”

Daryl rolled his eyes and glanced over at the grinning blonde, “What the hell am I gonna do with you?”

“Anything you want.” Shannon purred, blinking her long eyelashes at him. She watched as his eyes dropped down to her lips and then as his gaze skimmed lower down her body before he quickly looked ahead and started walking again, pulling her along with him.

“What are you doing to me, girl?”


	16. Chapter 16

Shannon leaned back on the bumper of the van as she gazed up at the cloudless sky. She couldn’t help but notice the sun was much higher than it had been when she first arrived. Upon seeing this, she began nervously combing at the ends of her hair. She didn’t want to admit it but she was starting to get anxious. Daryl was very late, and he was never late.

She adjusted her backpack, kicked at the dirt and played at the rubber band on her wrist, anything to keep her mind at bay but nothing was working. She was starting to toy with the idea of going to look for him when she finally saw him appear. She released a breath of relief and gave him a small wave.

“Sorry,” he muttered as he approached. “Had a hell of a time talking Rick into letting us go.”

“What was the problem?”

“He didn’t like that we were going by ourselves. Thought it might be too risky.”

“What did you tell him to convince him?”

“I told him we were plannin’ on repopulating the earth and couldn’t do that with everybody else around.”

Shannon’s nervous energy came out in an unexpected laugh as Daryl grabbed her backpack and tossed it in the backseat, “I mean, that’s one way to get some privacy but I think you should buy me a drink first before you put a baby in me.”

Daryl smirked and shook his head at her, “Lets go. We already lost too much time.”

***

It almost didn’t feel like the world had ended during their drive. If she closed her eyes she could almost pretend it was just any other day. The sounds of the tires on the gravel, and the relaxed way Daryl rested his hand on her thigh reminded her of what normal use to feel like.

They had been on their run for a few hours and had better luck than they expected. They hadn’t hit the jackpot by any means but they had found enough food and water that made Shannon feel pleased with at least a small amount of success. The tiny victory was certainly adding to her good mood, that and the quiet hunter sitting beside her.

The feeling of Daryl absentmindedly running his thumb across her thigh was starting to have a serious effect on her and it was getting more and more difficult to ignore. In an effort to be on her best behavior, she reached over and slid her hand under his, their fingers interlacing with each other. Daryl immediately glanced over at her;

“What did I say about the love sick teenage shit?”

“You touched me first.” Shannon shot back.

Daryl’s lips rose into a half smile and he shook his head without saying another word. Shannon smirked at him;

“Yeah that’s what I thought. Can’t pick on me when you’re breaking your own rules.”

Just then the two came across a road they had never been down before. Daryl slowed the car to a stop and looked back over at Shannon.

“What do ya think? Should we check it out?”

Shannon shrugged, “Might as well since we’re here.”

“Could be dangerous.”

“Don’t worry, I’ll protect you.”

Daryl rolled his eyes and slammed on the gas, forcing a giggle out of Shannon as her body shot forward. Daryl sped down the road, following the twists and turns that eventually led them to a small, abandoned condo community. Shannon took in the eerie sights as Daryl drove the car around a dried up fountain in the middle of the homes. The dead fountain was the only thing that appeared out of place in this neighborhood that hardly looked affected by the apocalypse. 

Cars were still parked in driveways, the paint on the homes were in immaculate condition and even the sound of a swing being pushed by the breeze made for the uncanny memory of children playing. Daryl finally pulled the van into an empty driveway of one of the identical looking buildings.

“Hopefully the inside looks as untouched as the outside,” Shannon remarked.

“I doubt it but ya never know.”

The two grabbed their weapons and took all of their typical precautions as they entered the home. A strange nostalgic feeling crashed down on Shannon as she walked around the place. Family portraits on the walls, the squeaking sound her sneakers made on the shiny hardwood floor, a few messy piles lying around, a modern style kitchen and children’s artwork on the fridge. She had grown up in a home very similar to this and it felt strange to be walking through what felt like a time capsule.

Her fingers traced along the spines of the books delicately placed on the shelves. Thick amounts of dust leaving their marks on her hands. Turning around she saw that the table was still set for a dinner that never happened.

“This is so weird,” Shannon said more to herself than to Daryl who was preoccupied filling up recyclable grocery bags with random useful items.

“Real weird. It’s like they just disappeared. Don’t look like anybody was living here when the world went to shit.”

“They probably packed up and left. They were smart.”

“A lot of people packed up and left. Don’t make them smart.”

“Well I like to think they made it.”

Daryl nodded over to the drawings on the fridge, “They had kids with them. I bet they didn’t.”

“Well that’s cynical of you.”

Daryl only shrugged, “Just being honest.”

“Rick has two kids. He’s doing just fine.”

“That’s different.”

“How?”

“It looks like rich people lived here. Rich people don’t know shit about survival.”

Shannon furrowed her brow, “I lived in a place just like this growing up. We weren’t rich.”

Daryl scoffed, “You grew up in a place like this? You were rich then.”

“Not rich. Just comfortable.”

“That’s what rich people always say.”

Shannon roughly grabbed one of the bags and started helping him place canned goods inside, “Well either way your theory is wrong. You said rich people can’t survive and I’m still here.”

Daryl gave her a quick side glance before continuing on his search for supplies, “Fine, point taken.”

Shannon tossed the bag over her shoulder and headed towards the stairs, quickly calling back to him while he was still in earshot, “I wasn’t rich though!”

“Whatever you say, Princess.” He called back.

At the top of the stairs, Shannon hurried past what she suspected was the children’s bedrooms, truly not wanting to see what hid behind those closed doors. At the end of the hallway she was greeted by an open doorway that lead to the master suite. She gazed around the grand room in awe, there were glass doors leading to a small balcony, the floor was covered in a cream colored carpet and upon glancing up she took in the candelabra chandelier hanging over the bed. 

She felt that wave of nostalgia again as it sunk in how similar this master suite had been to her parent’s bedroom. Their’s hadn’t been quite as luxurious but it was still close enough that it made her feel sentimental. She dropped the bag of goods and lead herself to the king size bed. She fell back on it and took in a deep a breath, doubtfully hoping that maybe any lingering scent would bring back memories of her parents but all that greeted her nose was stale air.

Her thoughts were interrupted when she heard a throat being cleared at the doorway. She sat up to see Daryl who looked very pleased with himself.

“Guess what I found in the basement?”

Shannon rose an eyebrow at him, “What?”

Daryl pulled from behind his back two bottles of wine, Shannon squealed with delight and rushed to him, “No way! I never thought I would get to taste wine ever again!”

Daryl smiled down at her, “Well they’re all yours. I never liked the stuff.”

“You’re gonna make me drink alone?”

“You won’t be drinkin’ alone. I’ll sit with you while you drink.”

Shannon rolled her eyes and teasingly shoved him, “Not the same thing.”

“More for you, right?”

Shannon suddenly got a mischievous look in her eyes and gave Daryl a wicked smile that made him raise an eyebrow at her, “What?”

“Well, it looks like you held up your end of the bargain. You got me a drink, so if you want to go ahead and start repopulating the earth now, it’s the least I can do to thank you.”

Daryl tried to hide his sudden stiffness by placing the bottles of wine in her grocery bag. Shannon mistook his uncomfortableness for him not understanding that she was kidding.

“I don’t actually want to have a baby, if that’s what you’re worried about.” She grabbed the bag from his hands and placed it on the floor before wrapping her arms around his waist, “But I’m down for all the fun activities that come before it.”

Daryl grabbed her hands and gently removed them from around his waist, “I said no teenage shit, remember?”

“We’ve gotten a ton of stuff today. I think we’ve earned the right to have a little fun now.”

Daryl looked over her face for a moment before turning towards the door. Shannon felt her heart sink as she watched him go, but the feeling only lasted for the briefest of seconds before it was quickly replaced by anger, “What is your problem, Dixon?”

He turned back around to face her but didn’t speak.

“I just don’t get it. One minute I think we have a good thing going and then all of a sudden it’s like you’re repulsed by me. Make up your mind.”

“I told you I only wanted one thing from you.”

“Oh yeah? Well your opportunity is right now and you’re avoiding it. So I call bullshit.”

Daryl shoved his hands in his pockets uncomfortably, “What do you want from me, Shannon?”

“I want you! I thought I’ve made that pretty clear. What am I doing wrong?”

“Nothin’.”

“Then what is the problem?”

Daryl’s eyes fell to the floor and he rocked back on his heels. The two sat in silence for a moment until Daryl decided to turn and walk away. Before he could get too far, Shannon grabbed his arm making him freeze in place;

“Don’t you dare walk out on me like that. We’re talking.”

“There’s nothin’ to talk about!” He turned and snapped at her.

“What am I to you?”

“Shannon.”

“That’s not an answer.”

“It’s the only answer I got.”

Shannon raked at her hair in frustration, “Fine. If that’s how you want it, then so be it. I’m not playing games with you anymore.”

Shannon grabbed her grocery bag and stormed over to one of the drawers. She rapidly began pulling out clothing items and letting them fall to the floor. She wasn’t paying attention to what she was grabbing hold of or if anything was worth taking home but she just needed something to do with her hands while she cooled down. She was on her third drawer when Daryl finally spoke up;

“I didn’t grow up in a place like this.”

Shannon shot him a questioning look before continuing on with her rampant digging, “So?”

“I grew up in a shit hole, surrounded by white trash and the worst kinda people.”

Shannon stopped her digging and looked over at him, his eyes still glued to the ground, one hand resting on the back of his neck. “I grew up and became a redneck asshole that did no good for nobody.”

“What are you trying to say, Daryl?”

“I ain’t good for you. You deserve better than me.”

“That’s not true at all,” Shannon took a few steps forward until she was an arm’s length away from him.

“Yeah it is. You’re beautiful and smart and have your shit together. You grew up with everythin’ you needed with people that loved you. I can’t compete with that. I can’t make you happy.”

“Stop being ridiculous. You make me happy everyday.” She took another step closer to him which made his eyes finally meet hers. Shannon went to touch his face but he ducked himself out of reach.

“You don’t want me. You really don’t. I got a past and not a good one.”

“I don’t care about your past. I only care about who you are now. And I know you’re strong, and caring, and brave, and you have so many incredible skills and talents. Most of all, you make me feel safe. Things don’t feel right until I’m with you and that’s because you’re a good guy and I’m absolutely crazy about you.”

Daryl watched her as she took another step, closing the gap between them. This time he didn’t try to pull away when she reached over and cupped his face.

“I think you’re makin’ a mistake.”

“I think you’re crazy but we all have our own opinions, it doesn’t make them facts.” Shannon pressed her body up against his, holding his face in place so that they were barely inches from each other.

“I ain’t no knight in shining armor.”

Shannon shrugged, “They’re overrated. I rather have a redneck with a crossbow.”

As if Daryl couldn’t hold back any longer, he grabbed hold of her waist and crashed his lips to hers with a passion she had never felt from him before. Her fingers drifted up through his hair and then down his neck as she let him explore her mouth.

Losing patience and willpower quickly, Shannon grabbed fistfuls of his vest and pushed him towards the king size bed. When the back of his legs hit the mattress he pulled away from their kiss to raise an eyebrow at her. She waited expectedly until she realized he wasn’t going to make a move. She rolled her eyes and shoved him onto the bed. Before he had a chance to react, she jumped onto his lap, positioning herself so that she was straddling him and resumed their make out session. After a moment Daryl broke from their kiss again;

“Jesus, girl. You ain’t holding back.”

“Are you complaining?”

“Nah just wasn’t expecting it.” He brushed back some of her hair, his hands gliding down her arms.

Shannon reached up and slowly started unbuttoning her shirt then, before any hidden nerves could stop her, she let it slide to the floor. She felt her heart beat speed up as she saw Daryl’s hungry eyes wander over her body. His hands subconsciously tightening around her thighs.

“You sure about this?” He finally asked, Shannon nodded.

“Absolutely.”

Daryl traced his fingers up her waist and lingered on her back just below the clasp of her bra strap, he looked up at her questioningly.

“Yes,” Shannon whined “You can take it off. You have my full permission to do what you want with me. God, you’re slower than molasses.”

Daryl’s piercing blue eyes locked in on her deep green ones, a hint of wariness passing over them, “I ain’t good with this kind of stuff. I’ve messed up every relationship I’ve been in. I really don’t wanna screw this up. I don’t want to lose you.”

Shannon smiled and cupped his face, “Is that why you keep pulling away from me? You’re afraid you’re gonna screw this up?”

Daryl just kept his eyes trained on her.

“Daryl, you’re one of the best things that’s ever happened to me. There’s nothing you could do to make me not care about you. I already told you once, I don’t plan on going anywhere and I mean it.”

Daryl hesitated for a moment longer, Shannon sighed and planted a kiss on his lips before resting her forehead on his.

“I don’t wanna hurt you.” He whispered.

“Just stop playing games with me and don’t be an asshole and you won’t. And if you you mean physically, you’re not going to break me, I’m not that delicate.”

Unexpectedly Shannon felt herself being whipped around and tossed, landing with her back to the bed, she looked up to see Daryl hovering over her, a wild look in his eyes. She went to say something but felt his mouth crash down on her’s, silencing her thoughts. His mouth lowered to her neck and down her chest, pausing only to help remove the rest of their clothing.

It became a wild blur of heavy breathing, intense sensations and tangled limbs as they explored each other’s bodies, getting lost in each other. Daryl’s original hesitation forgotten and animalistic temptations taking over as he pulled uncontrollable sounds of pleasure from Shannon’s lips.

Her heart pounded harder every time she locked eyes with him. He made very little noise but she could see the burning want in his expressions and it made her need him more. The feeling of Daryl’s mouth and hands all over her made her squirm and squeal. She felt like a teenager again as their bodies moved in sync with each other in a dance that felt like they had practiced for years.

It wasn’t long before they both came to pieces in each other’s arms. Shannon cried out just as she felt Daryl come undone. He remained hovered over her for a moment, the two sharing a deep look of contentment as they came down from their high. He leaned down and brushed his lips against hers before falling to his back beside her. They both sucked in deep breaths as if they had been underwater for ages, their hearts still speeding.

After she finally got control of her breathing, Shannon inched herself closer until she was laying on his chest, he responded by wrapping an arm around her to keep her close. Shannon closed her eyes and listened to his heart beat and his breathing as it started to slow down. Still riding on the bliss of the moment she tried to cling to it as long as she could. The peace was broken when she heard a small chuckle come from Daryl. She leaned up, placing an elbow on the pillow, keeping her other hand on his chest.

“What’s so funny?”

“I was just thinkin’ about when you first showed up at the prison. Never would’a thought we’d end up here.”

Shannon thought back to the first time she had seen him. It felt like a lifetime ago the fear she had felt as she and her brother stood helplessly on the opposite side of the prison fences. She remembered the intense look Daryl had on her as they suspiciously pointed their weapons at each other and the distrustful way he studied her.

“I thought you hated me.”

“Nah I never hated you. I just didn’t know what to think of you yet. I thought you hated me.”

“I kinda did at times. You were hard to read, you’re still hard to read.” Shannon absentmindedly started tracing circles on his chest. “How do you feel about me now?”

“You know how I feel,” Daryl reached over and started delicately pulling at the hairs that had fallen into her face, subtly trying to avoid her eye contact.

“I wanna hear you say it,”

“Come on, Shannon. I ain’t good with this stuff.”

Shannon grabbed his hand and pulled it to her mouth, seductively leaving soft kisses and nibbles on his fingers, pulling a groan of want from deep within Daryl’s throat, 

“Say it.” She singsonged at him.

“I like ya, okay. A real lot. Have for a long time.” His eyes following her lips as they continued to play with his fingers.

“You ever gonna try to pull away from me again?”

“Don’t think I can. I think ya got me hooked.”

Shannon giggled and placed his hand over her breast as she leaned in closer to his lips, stopping barely an inch away, “Good, cause I want you real bad, Daryl Dixon.”

She saw that wild fire erupt back in his eyes as he closed the gap between their lips. The burning passion dying out very quickly when they both heard a door creak from downstairs. They pulled from each other and listened carefully as footsteps made their way to the kitchen area. 

Shannon’s breathing picked up as she locked eyes on Daryl, silently pleading for him to come up with a plan. Without a word he slowly and carefully crawled out of the bed and got dressed, tossing her clothes to her. Daryl as lightly as possible made his way over to the balcony and then to the windows to see if there was a way out. He shook his head at her when he failed to find a safe exit.

“I think there’s only one person down there. We can probably take em’.” He whispered, Shannon nodded in response, pulling her gun out.

Daryl pushed her behind him as they crept towards the staircase, listening carefully as the stranger dug through the cabinets. When they got to the bottom of the stairs, Shannon peaked her head around to see who their guest was. 

A sinking feeling filled her gut as eyes settled on the unmistakable red vest she had seen over and over again in her nightmares. Her emotions quickly switched and a burning anger began to build inside of her knowing she was mere feet away from the person responsible for her brother’s death.

She pushed herself forward, her footsteps startling the young man as he dropped the goods he was holding and spun himself around to face her. Shannon’s jaw tightened when she saw how young he was, he couldn’t have been any older than Tyler was. The boy reached his hands up and nervously pulled at his backwards baseball cap.

“I don’t want any trouble! I had no idea anyone else was in here.” He quickly spit out.

Shannon glared and pointed her gun at him causing the boy to gasp and back up.

“Shit lady! Just keep what I took! It’s not a big deal.”

Shannon was blinded by rage as her finger hovered over the trigger, she was seconds away from shooting the frightened young man when she felt Daryl’s hand on her shoulder;

“He’s just a kid. What the hell are you doing?”

She kept her eyes firmly on the boy as she growled, “This is the son of a bitch that got my brother killed.”

The boy’s eyes bounced from Shannon to Daryl, “You guys have the wrong person. I haven’t killed anybody, I swear.”

“You and a bunch of others broke into our home to rob us. Our home is in the prison.” Shannon spit out, her rage growing with every passing second.

Realization flashed across the young man’s eyes, “Your brother… Was he the one that was chasing me?”

Shannon nodded once in return.

“One of our guys shot him! Not me! It’s not my fault he chased me right into them!”

“You threw a walker on him. He got bit.”

The boy took a step backwards, his back hitting the door leading to the patio. Before Shannon had time to react, the boy flung open the door and sprinted away. Without giving it a second thought, Shannon chased after him. She burst through the door and out onto the patio, she spun around until she had locked eyes on the fleeing boy heading for the woods. He had a decent start but Shannon’s normally high speed had doubled, fueled by adrenaline and revenge.

Low hanging branches scraped at her arms but she ignored it as she side stepped past large rocks and other obstacles. The bright red vest was in her sights and it was getting closer and closer as her speed picked up. He was starting to slow down as he glanced over his shoulder, just then Shannon dove at him and tackled him to the ground.

The boy tried to crawl away but Shannon jumped up and pointed her gun at his back,

“Don’t you move.”

“Please don’t do this,” His voice sounding more defeated than frightened, “I swear I didn’t want to hurt him. I was just trying to get away. He kept chasing me, what was I suppose to do? It’s all about survival.”

“Well he’s dead and you’re alive and that’s just not okay with me. Turn around.”

After a moment of hesitation, the young man slowly turned around, sat back and placed his hands on his knee. In their scuffle his baseball hat had flown off causing his very overgrown sandy brown hair to fall into his eyes which he kept trained on her. Just then, Shannon heard Daryl approaching her from behind, he silently stood next to her, the two keeping careful watch on the boy.

“I’m really sorry. There’s no way I can make up for it but if you let me go I can tell you anything you want to know about our people, our camp, anything. Please.” Every word he spoke starting to sound more fearful and frantic. He looked from Shannon to Daryl, “Tell her man. Tell her to let me go.”

“I ain’t telling her to do shit.” Daryl shot back at him, “If it was my brother, you’d be dead already.”

A groan escaped from the boy and he nervously ran a hand through his hair making him appear even younger than he already looked. Shannon’s revenge fueled fury settled back for half a moment upon seeing this.

“What’s your name, kid?”

The boy glanced back up at her with a questioning look, “Markus.”

“How old are you?”

“Nineteen.”

Shannon felt the change of heart within her but kept her gun pointed at him despite it. Her rational thoughts kept telling her to just pull the damn trigger but her emotional side kept telling her to hear him out. She compromised with her conflicted feelings by using the opportunity to get as much information out of him as she could. She could make her decision after she had any and all useful information.

“When you guys raided the prison, the second time, I heard gun shots coming from inside the fences. Then I saw your people amongst our people before you guys came crashing through the gates. How is that possible?”

Fearing for his life, Markus was quick to respond, “The first raid was mostly just a decoy. We grabbed as much as we could but it was just so you guys would be distracted so some of our people could hide in your prison. I was one of the people hiding inside. At night, we were suppose to take what we could and transfer it to our people waiting outside of the fences.”

“That explains why Tyler said our inventory was running low after only a month.” Shannon’s fury came back and she tightened her grip on the gun.

“It was suppose to be easy but you guys always had people watching from the towers. The raid was gonna happen much later when you guys had nothing left and it would have been easy to overpower you, but it was getting impossible to sneak stuff out.”

“Why was my brother chasing you?”

“After the flares went off he went to lock the room up, probably to keep any of us from getting to your supplies. He found me in there. He must have figured out that I had been there the whole time stealing all the stuff because he looked so pissed. He came at me right away and punched me in the jaw. When I saw him going for his knife, I bolted the hell outta there.”

“So he went after you first?”

Markus only nodded in return. Shannon let out a huff of air. She wanted so badly to hurt this boy for all the pain he caused her but she was running out of reasons.

“Why are you out here alone?”

“I prefer to be alone. I can get in and out of places easy and quick, no one gets hurt.”

“What about your group? Safety in numbers and all.”

“Not much safety with them. A lot of em’ are bad people. They’ll kill anybody they come across no questions asked and steal all their shit. I rather do things my way.”

“If they’re such _bad_ people, why are you with them?” The venom was thick in Shannon’s voice until she saw a look pass across his eyes, a look she knew all too well.

“I’d be fine on my own. I’d prefer it. But I got a little sister. She’s only fourteen and the most timid little thing you’d ever meet. I can’t take care of her by myself, we need a group and shelter. That’s why we’re with them. It’s the only reason. That’s why you can’t kill me I’m all she’s got.”

Shannon tried to fight away the compassion she felt blanketing itself over her anger, “You got a group. Sounds like she’d be fine.”

“No!” The fear returned to Markus’ voice, “We got some real creeps in our group. It makes me sick the way they look at her. If I don’t come back.” He paused to swallow and shake his head, “I don’t wanna think about what they’ll do to her.”

She wanted revenge so badly, she wanted to take away all her pain in one quick shot to the head, but as she looked at this boy she knew she couldn’t do it, he didn’t deserve it. She thought of Tyler and everything he had taught her about the good in people and understanding that everyone had it bad and we all had to learn to cope in our own way.

Shannon finally lowered her weapon as all the anger left her, but she kept her eyes fiercely on him, “You better not be lying to me, kid.”

Markus fervently shook his head, “I promise it’s all true.”

“I don’t ever want to see you or your people near my home again, understood?”

He hesitated, “I can’t promise that. But I don’t think anybody wants to risk trying to go after your place again after two failed attempts so chances are good.”

“If I find out you’ve been lying to me and I see you anywhere near my people, I’m gonna kill you. I’m gonna feed you to a damn walker, you hear me?”

His eyes widened as he nodded his head, “Loud and clear.”

“Get the hell out of here.”

Markus remained frozen in place for a moment, his dark brown eyes unblinking. Trying to test the waters, he slowly reached his hand over to grab his baseball cap, not letting his eyes leave her’s. Once it was securely back on his head, he jumped up and dashed across the woods, disappearing out of sight. Shannon didn’t turn away even after he was gone, taking in everything that he had said and what she had done. She only broke from her trance when she felt Daryl’s hand on her shoulder;

“You alright?”

She turned to face him, letting his hand brush across her face, “Yeah, I am actually.”

“Why’d you let him go?”

“Despite everything, Tyler wouldn’t have wanted me to kill him. The best way I can honor him is by doing things his way for once.”

Daryl pulled her to his chest and wrapped his arms around her, “He’d be real proud of you.”

The two stayed in that position for quite some time, enjoying the silence of the woods and the warmth of each other. The only movement shared between them was Daryl softly stroking the back of Shannon’s head. Finally after some time she pulled away far enough to look up at him, bringing herself up on her toes she planted a firm kiss on his lips. They lingered for a moment longer until Daryl separated them.

“It’ll be dark soon. We should grab the rest of our stuff and head back to the prison.”

Shannon nodded as she felt Daryl tuck a few strands of hair behind her ear. She reached over to his free hand and interlaced her fingers with his and started leading them back to the condo complex.

“I think I earned that wine now.”

Daryl chuckled, “Yeah I suppose you did.”

“Will you drink it with me? We can pretend life is normal and we’re having a date night.”

“We gotta have date nights now?”

“Wow you really aren’t good with the whole relationship thing.” Shannon playfully nudged him as the houses came into view.

“I warned ya.” Daryl smirked and glanced over at her, “But yeah I’ll drink your damn wine and do the date thing.”

“Cause ya like me?” Shannon teased with a grin. Daryl looked back over at her, his face and tone much more serious.

“Yeah, cause I like ya. And I’m gonna do whatever I gotta do to make you happy.”

Shannon’s heart rate tripled as she smiled back at him. This new world they lived in was uncertain and scary. The risk of losing the people you loved always inches away. But for the shortest of moments, Shannon didn’t care. Right now she was happy, she was safe, she had someone to care about who cared about her too, and despite the world screaming out it’s dark ways at every turn, she felt lucky. It was a new feeling, one she hadn’t felt in a very long time, and she planned to hold onto it for as long as she could.


	17. Chapter 17

_***Six Months Later***_

“Shannon? Come on, Shannon you gotta wake up now.”

Shannon groaned as the soothing southern drawl began to pull her from her dreams. She lazily protested by keeping her eyes firmly shut and rolling onto her side, but she was disappointed to find that the normally warm side of the bed was cool to the touch.

“Glenn’ll kill us if we’re late again.”

She finally opened her eyes and looked up at the furrowed brow that looked impatient, but surprisingly not frustrated by her lack of effort. She flashed him her most innocent smile and blinked her long eye lashes in his direction.

“Oh come on, Daryl. Five more minutes? I’ll make it worth it to you.”

She watched as that familiar fire passed briefly across his eyes before he quickly shook his head, causing his hair to fall over into his features.

“Not today. We can’t be late again.”

“Oh please?” Shannon cooed as she reached her hand over and pulled at his fingers.

“Shannon.” Daryl tried to say as firmly as he could managed, “Don’t do this. You know I can’t say no to you.”

“So why start now?” Shannon tilted her head trying to catch his eye, “Glenn and the crew can wait five more minutes.”

“Ain’t gonna be five minutes and you know it.”

Shannon grinned, “Then they can wait however damn long it’ll take. Come on Daryl, don’t make me beg.”

The sultry tone to her voice made Daryl’s eyes finally met her’s and she knew she had him right where she wanted him. She watched him fight internally with himself in this losing battle between her and his responsibilities.

“You’re explaining to Glenn why we’re late. I ain’t taken any heat this time.”

Shannon giggled as Daryl sat back on the bed and wrapped his hands around her face.

“Deal!” She barely managed to exclaim as he captured her mouth with his.

It wasn’t that she liked being late for the group, if she was being honest with herself, she hated it. But it was only in these private moments when she was alone with Daryl that she was able to bring this side out of him. It was obvious to anyone watching how much he cared about her. He was always overly protective and was never far out of sight, he could even be affectionate in public at times. But this new wild side to him that she had grown to crave was saved for the privacy of their cell.

_Their cell._ It still felt odd for her to say. Mostly because neither of them had discussed it in advance, it just sort of happened. At the very beginning they would go to their separate quarters, as they had always done, with the intention of sleeping separately. But they quickly discovered that neither could sleep without the other. So night after night it was the same thing, one would always end up going to the other’s cell where the other one would be laying awake hoping they would show up.

After a few weeks of this routine and without a word about it, one day Shannon noticed another bunk had been put side by side with her’s creating a solid sized bed. Shannon didn’t question it or even considered bringing it up just in case the mere discussion about it would cause Daryl to rethink the idea. That night she waited cautiously to see if he would indeed show up. To her delight he did and the two hadn’t spent a night apart since, and that’s exactly how they liked it.

After much more than five minutes, Shannon and Daryl finally broke a part. Now that she had come down from her high of the moment, reality suddenly dawned on her how late they truly were. She immediately jumped to her feet and threw her clothes on. Part of her scolding herself for acting so immaturely and selfish, while the other part couldn’t help but applaud her for this new carefree side of her that she was discovering. Not being able to control her teasing nature, she tossed a sly look over to Daryl;

“Get your lazy ass up. We’re real late now.”

“You gotta be kidding me, girl.” Daryl sat up abruptly, “I’ve been trying to get you to move all morning.”

Shannon grinned and shrugged, “Well now look who’s the one still in bed.”

Daryl grumbled but couldn’t stifle the smirk that rose to his lips, “You’re a piece’a work, ya know that?”

“Then why do you stick around?” Shannon taunted him through her grin. 

Daryl stood and locked eyes with her. He absentmindedly tucked a few stray hairs behind her ear and rested his hand on her cheek. Shannon internally rolled her eyes at his lack of an answer and shoved his clothes into his chest.

“Glenn’s gonna be so pissed. Let’s go.”

***

The two practically sprinted all the way from their cell to the gate. As they got closer they saw a very annoyed looking Glenn standing with Sasha.

“Nice of you two to show up.” Glenn called out to them.

“Sorry,” Shannon called back as she darted towards him, “I had a hell of a time waking up this morning.”

Glenn looked to the approaching Daryl and then back to Shannon, the frustration still thick in his tone, “I have a feeling _getting up_ wasn’t the problem.”

Shannon’s hand instinctively shot out to stop Daryl from getting into Glenn’s face at the comment;

“Hey at least we’re quiet.” Shannon light heartedly tossed his way, “I can hear you and Maggie going at it from all the way in our cell.”

Glenn’s face burned as Daryl rushed in to put an end to this conversation he felt had gone uncomfortably too far.

“That’s enough. Stop acting like kids. We got a job to do.” Daryl grabbed Shannon’s arm and practically dragged her to the van. When he saw that Glenn and Sasha were no longer looking at them he shot her a look that Shannon couldn’t help but chuckle at.

“What? You told me to explain why we were late. If you don’t like it my way, you do it from now on.”

“We wouldn’t be late if we did it my way.”

“You saying it wasn’t worth it?” Shannon bit her lip to suppress another smile when she saw Daryl’s ears turn pink.

“Just get in the van, Shannon.”

***

The warm summer sun felt pleasant on Shannon’s skin and the calming breeze kept the group cool as they bounced from location to location. They had been going on runs together for so long they were all practically on auto pilot mode knowing exactly where to go and what to do. But none of them seemed to mind, a boring run was better than a dangerous run.

Shannon’s dreamy state was interrupted when she noticed Glenn turn the van onto a dead end street she didn’t recognize. She gazed around the seemingly empty area and noticed only two buildings side by side, the rest of the area surrounded by wood. Glenn parked the car in front of a two story tall, white building that looked as if it was having a rough time even before the apocalypse happened. The sign, in peeling blue paint, read “Cline’s General Store”.

Shannon stepped out of the car and surveyed the area as Daryl and Glenn killed a few stray walkers stumbling towards their group. She pulled her gun from her holster and made her way towards the building but was stopped in her tracks when she heard Daryl call out to her;

“Shannon, hold up! Wait until we can clear it together.”

“It’s fine, Daryl. I’ve done this a million times, I can handle it.”

Shannon tapped her foot impatiently but waited as Daryl pulled an arrow from a walker’s head and rushed towards her. Once the two entered the building, they did a quick sweep of the area to make sure it was safe and empty of threats. Before splitting off to look for supplies, Shannon turned towards Daryl;

“You don’t have to be so protective of me all the time you know.” She said lightly, “I can take care of myself.”

“I know. Just want you to be safe is all.”

Shannon smiled and grabbed his hand, “I appreciate it but just relax. You can keep an eye out without babying me.”

Daryl quickly glanced around the room to make sure they were alone before planting a swift kiss on her lips. She grinned at him as he turned from her to go looking for supplies.

“Is that confirmation that you’ll stop babying me?” Shannon called after him.

“Nope,” He responded as he walked away, “Was just to get you to shut up.”

Shannon laughed to herself and shook her head. He may be overprotective and it occasionally got on her nerves, but overall she couldn’t help but find it endearing how much he worried about her and cared for her. She had spent her entire life having people depend on her so it was nice for once to have someone to depend on. So if she had to put up with a little of his overbearing vigilance, that was fine by her.

Shannon placed her gun back in her holster and explored around the first floor looking for anything that might be useful, although it didn’t look like a promises prospect. The building wasn’t very large and it seemed as if the rest of the group had most of the inside covered so Shannon decided to try her luck in the back of the building. She remembered a general store near the home she grew up in had a small greenhouse in the back and she hoped there might be something similar here.

She hadn’t realized how stuffy the building had been until she felt the warm summer breeze pass across her face. She glanced around the backyard area of the building but was disappointed to find it was mostly woods and very little of anything else. She stepped down the stairs to search a little further when she heard the screen door slam behind her. Shannon jumped, frightened by the unexpected disturbance, and spun around but was relieved to find only a very sheepish looking Glenn standing behind her.

“Sorry didn’t mean to scare you. I guess we had the same idea.”

“Unfortunately it looks like there isn’t much out here. I’ll take a look around anyways just in case.”

Glenn nodded, “I’ll check out the building next door. See what’s over there.”

Glenn made a move to turn away but Shannon stopped him before he could leave,

“Sorry about being late…. Again.” Shannon laughed uncomfortably, “I know it’s really unprofessional and it’s not fair to you or Sasha. I know better and should have been more respectful of your time and friendship.”

Glenn smiled and shrugged, “Thanks but it’s really not that big of a deal. Sorry I was being a jerk about it.”

“No, you had every right to be pissed. It’s been happening a lot lately and it’s my fault. So I’m sorry.”

“Maggie and I were the same way when we were first together. We were always sneaking off and being really late for things, so I guess I was kinda being a hypocrite.” Glenn smiled fondly at the memory, “And honesty, it’s just really nice to see Daryl happy. He’s always been rough around the edges so I’m glad he finally found someone to soften him up a bit. Don’t tell him I said that though!”

Shannon laughed, “Thanks, Glenn. That’s nice to hear.”

He nodded in response and turned to head towards the other building but before he got out of earshot he called back out to her, “But in all seriousness, try not to be so late anymore!”

Shannon grinned and started looking around the small area in the back of the building. She was determined to find something out there no matter how small. She had her mind set that she was going to make up for their lateness by being especially useful on this run. She was carefully digging through a pile of broken metal parts when she heard the softest rustling sound behind her.

Slowly she turned and scanned her eyes over the area until she spotted a fat, brown rabbit munching on some weeds about twelve or so feet away from her. Shannon’s good mood sky rocketed at the sight, she hadn’t seen a rabbit in ages, let alone one that appeared as healthy as this one did. 

She wasn’t a very good hunter by any means but she feared that it might escape if she went off to grab the more experienced one in the group. Fortunately Daryl had been teaching her how to properly hunt over the past few months and she decided this was a great opportunity to try out her new skills on her own.

With the lightest of footsteps Daryl had taught her to use, she carefully approached the unsuspecting rabbit. She was proud of her practically silent movements until she tried to pull her knife from her side. It slipped from her fingers and in a mad dash to catch it before it fell to the ground, she made more than enough noise to call attention to herself causing the rabbit to start to hop away.

Not ready to give up so soon Shannon as quietly as she could manage chased after the rabbit, unknowingly getting herself deeper into the woods and further from the general store and her group that was still searching for supplies inside. It felt like ages before the rabbit finally stopped to snack on a patch of tall grass. Shannon held her breath as she inched her way closer to her long awaited prize, careful not let her knife slip out of her grasp this time. When she was a mere foot away a sudden voice behind her startled the rabbit away.

“Well, well, well… What do we have here?”

Shannon whipped around only to come face to face with an all too familiar stranger towering over her. His steel blue eyes flashed and he chuckled as he recognized the blonde girl standing before him.

“Well, shit. I know you.” His eyes scanned down her body, “You’re that girl from that prison we were robbing. Woke up with the worst headache I ever had in my life after you knocked me out. Pretty bad chest pains too, that was a solid kick.”

Shannon’s eyes darted around and it was only then that she realized how far she had gone. Panic began to consume her as she frantically scanned the area for the buildings but to her dismay, they were completely out of sight. Without thinking about it first, she took a step back to the immediate displeasure of the stranger standing before her.

“Oh no you don’t”. He quickly dove forward and grabbed hold of her before she even had a chance to blink, “You ain’t getting away this time.”

“Daryl!” She managed to scream out before the man covered her mouth with his filthy hand. She wiggled uncontrollably and then bit down hard on his hand causing him to scream out.

“You stupid bitch!” He wrapped his now injured hand around her throat but it didn’t stop Shannon from desperately trying to break away.

“You don’t wanna do this the easy way? Fine.” He grumbled.

The man dragged her along kicking and screaming before throwing her to the ground with a painful thud. Shannon tried to jump up but his overly large foot came down hard on her stomach, knocking the wind out of her and holding her in place. Shannon watched in fear as the man bent down and picked up a large rock and held it over her.

“I owe you for the headache anyways. Sweet dreams, baby girl.”

Shannon opened her mouth to scream out to Daryl again but before she could, darkness surrounded her.

***

After searching most of the obviously areas of the second floor, Daryl found himself on his hands and knees looking underneath the shelves for anything that might be hidden away. He had to admit it, Shannon’s old trick wasn’t bad. He found more than he expected to looking below the surface. Pushing away some built up cobwebs he discovered a few dusty bottles of water and some gardening tools.

Just before diving back down to look under another shelf, a flash of silver caught his eye. On display behind the glass counter was a silver oval locket with swirling flower designs engraved across the edges. Daryl carefully reached inside and pulled it out to get a better look. Not exactly knowing what to look for when it came to jewelry, he flipped it over and examined it closely, thoroughly checking for any glaring detail that stuck out making it unfavorable.

He wasn’t sure if Shannon liked jewelry or would even want something so useless, but there was something about it Daryl liked and he couldn’t help but feel she might appreciate it. After another moment of questioning himself, Daryl shook his head and made a move to put the locket back down, suddenly feeling foolish for even considering the idea. Before he had set it down, a sudden voice from behind him made him freeze in place;

“What do you have there?”

Daryl closed his fist around the locket in an attempt to hide it before turning to face Sasha, “Not much, found some water and tools under the shelves.”

She raised an eyebrow at him and nodded towards his tightly closed fist, “I meant that.”

“Nothin’ just saw something Shannon might want is all.”

Daryl quickly shoved the necklace in his pocket and turned from Sasha, unconvincingly attempting to look busy as he searched the shelves for more supplies.

“It’s pretty. She’ll love it.”

Daryl immediately stopped what he was doing and glanced slightly back at Sasha, “Yeah?”

“Yeah,” she nodded. “She will.”

She gave him the smallest smile before heading off into another room, leaving him alone with his thoughts. Daryl waited until she was out of sight before he pulled the necklace from his pocket and gave it one last look. After triple checking to make sure it wasn’t damaged, he delicately wrapped it in the rag he had in his back pocket and safely tucked it away.

He still wasn’t sure if he would give it to her, but at least he had it just in case he changed his mind.

***

Daryl wiped the sweat from his brow as he loaded a few heavy boxes of miscellaneous items into the van. The Georgia sun was now high in the sky and showing no mercy as it beat down on the group. Sasha and Glenn’s movements were sluggish from the heat as they came out of the second building with the remainder of items they had gathered. 

“That’s the last of it,” Glenn huffed as he shoved a crate in the back and slammed the door shut.

Daryl glanced back over at the two. His eyes narrowed as he immediately noticed that someone important wasn’t standing with them, “Where’s Shannon?”

Sasha shrugged, “She wasn’t in the building we were in so she must still be in the general store.”

“I searched that whole place, I didn’t see her.” Daryl marched over to the doorway and called out to her, “Hey Shannon, we gotta go.”

His heart pounded as he impatiently waited for her to appear, when she didn’t after a few moments, he called out to her again. He tried to tell himself that she was just distracted, that she had lost track of time and she would come rushing out any minute. But after another minute and nothing but more silence followed, Daryl’s fear started taking hold. He whipped around and stormed over to Glenn and Sasha, his panicked tone sounding more angry than he intended.

“When did you last see her?”

“Not since when we first got here.” Sasha eyes widened as she glanced around hoping to spot the blonde nearby.

“I saw her in the back, maybe a couple of hours ago?” 

Glenn had barely finished his sentence before Daryl darted off to the back of the general store. He frantically searched the area, desperate to find any sign of her. He was so focused he hardly noticed Glenn and Sasha had run over to join him.

He scanned the woods, wanting so badly to call out to her but knowing full well he couldn’t. It would be a foolish risk that might call attention to any nearby walkers or people which would only endanger her further. The sudden idea of her being in danger assaulted his mind and made him feel sick. He silently cursed himself for trying to give her some space and letting her out of his sights for so long. 

He shook those thoughts from his mind and shifted his focus to the ground where his eyes fell upon a fresh set of small footprints imprinted in the dirt. Careful to keep his eye out for any other sign of her, he followed the footsteps into the woods. But he stopped abruptly when he remembered Glenn and Sasha were still standing behind him.

“I found her footprints. I’m gonna see if I can track her down.” He called to them.

“We’ll help you.” Glenn went to catch up but Daryl put a hand up to stop him.

“Nah, you won’t know what to look for and might mess up the trail. Take the van and drive around. Maybe she got lost and is wandering the area.”

Glenn nodded firmly, a determined look on his face, “Don’t worry, we’re gonna find her.”

Daryl wanted so badly for his words to encourage and calm him but when he looked from Glenn to Sasha and saw that her concerned and doubtful expression mirrored the feelings that were plaguing his heart, it only fueled his fear. He swallowed down his doubt and nodded before taking off.

Following her trail was simple at first but as he got further out into the woods her footsteps became harder and harder to notice. It didn’t help they appeared to almost zigzag and didn’t follow a straight line. 

“What the hell were you thinking, Shannon?” Daryl groaned “Where the hell were you going?”

It wasn’t long before Daryl came across a second set of footprints that collided with Shannon’s. His entire body froze as the trail began to form a visual picture in his mind. He could tell there had been a struggle and though she must have fought back, whoever had found her had overpowered her because after the struggle, his footprints could be seen leaving the area, but her’s had disappeared. 

Daryl’s heart rate sky rocketed as he frantically surveyed the area for more information that the trail could tell him. His eyes finally fell upon a large stone that had been cast to the side. His body going numb when he saw the fresh spots of blood staining the smooth surface. Daryl dropped to his knees and picked up the stone, spinning it around in his hands he spotted a few stray blonde hairs stuck to the still wet blood spots.

Terror and fury consuming him, Daryl threw the stone against a tree as he jumped to his feet. Her body wasn’t insight which gave him the smallest amount of relief that she was still alive but her lack of footprints meant she didn’t leave on her own. Daryl fought to control his distress as reality sunk in, whoever had run into her had taken her. For what reason he had no idea, but he knew it couldn’t be for anything good.

The thought that she was in danger made his stomach turn but he pushed down as much of his emotions as he could in order to focus on finding his girl. He couldn’t afford to let his fear affect his instincts, not when every second mattered.

Shannon once told him how in moments when she felt helpless she would release her deep concerns and wishes to whatever unseen force might still be listening. At the time he had internally rolled his eyes at the thought but in this moment and in his desperation, he was willing to give it a try;

“Please let her be okay. Please let me find her.”

He gave himself one last moment to be consumed by his fear but then swallowed it down and allowed no other emotions to seep through. His body then kicked into autopilot mode forcing him to keep following what was left of a trail. He looked ahead, readjusted the bow on his back, and rushed forward, determined that he wouldn’t go home without her beside him.


	18. Chapter 18

A sharp and throbbing pain in her head was the first thing Shannon noticed as she started to come back to her senses. Her eye lids felt heavy, as if they were weighed down by bricks, but she forced them open despite it. Everything in her line of sight was fuzzy at first as she gazed around her surroundings but as things began to come into focus, she quickly realized she had no idea where she was or why she was there.

Still groggy and confused, her memory was as blurry as her vision. A wooden chair beneath her made a small creaking sound as she tried unsuccessfully to stand. Not understanding why she couldn’t move, Shannon looked down only to find that her wrists and ankles were tied up. She felt a cold sweat break out across the back of her neck as the memory of what happened began pouring back to her and the gravity of the situation started settling in.

Not knowing what she could possibly do to free herself or how much time she had, she frantically looked around what she could only assume was a very large tent, desperate for anything that could help her. It was then that her eyes fell upon a figure standing with his back to her. Before she even had time to panic about not being alone, she realized she recognized the long sandy brown hair and the backwards baseball cap sitting on top of it.

She was about to say something when the young man turned and noticed her. Shannon opened her mouth to finally speak but before she could, Markus rushed forward and gently placed his hand over her mouth to silence her.

“I’m suppose to let them know when you’re awake. So you have to be quiet.” He whispered to her before removing his hand. Shannon swallowed down her building fear but she couldn’t hide the shake in her voice.

“Who?”

“Julian, our leader and Lee, the guy who took you. They’ve been arguing about you out there. We’re not suppose to bring people back so Julian is pissed.”

“What are they going to do with me?”

Markus shot her a dreadful look that made her stomach turn, “You don’t want to know.”

It was the last thing she wanted to hear but Shannon knew she didn’t have time or the energy to waste on panicking so she took a few deep breathes in hopes it would help calm her down and then reset her focus on coming up with a plan. Her eyes darted around the room until they finally landed on a slit in the back of the tent, a perfect back exit to assist in her escape.

“Markus, you have to get me out. Just untie the ropes and I’ll run, I’m really fast, they won’t even know I’m gone until I’m plenty far away.”

His eyes dropped to the ground and he slowly shook his head, “I can’t, they assigned me to watch you. If they come back in and see you’re gone, they’ll know I let you go and they’ll kill me, or worse they’ll kill my little sister Kasey. I’m really sorry, but I can’t risk that.”

Shannon’s mind spun as she worked through any other possible way she could make this work but it wasn’t long before a deep feeling of sorrow overcame her. She had been very lucky up until this point, she had gotten herself into some pretty tricky situations but had always managed to find a way out of the mess. Unfortunately, her current situation was very different, she was trapped, and alone, and she was out of options.

The sorrow she had felt was very quickly replaced with anger at herself for how stupid she had been and, worst of all, there was no one to blame but herself. She had been careless which she had always lectured her brother against doing for this exact reason. These emotions helped overshadowed the fear that still swam in her stomach but it didn’t last long as Markus finally broke the silence;

“They’ll probably interrogate you. Try to get information outta you. Just tell them whatever they want to know and maybe they’ll go easy on you.” Markus whispered.

“I can’t do that. I can’t risk the safety of my people.”

“Sure you can. What do you owe them anyhow?”

“Everything. They gave me and my brother a place to live, people I love dearly are there. I’d rather die than let anything happen to any of them.”

“That’s admirable and all but you might be facing worse than just dying so I would reconsider if I was you.”

“What are the chances they let me go?”

Markus frowned, “Very unlikely.”

Shannon sighed and looked down at her wrists, trying with no success to loosen the tightly knotted ropes that were digging deep into her skin. She was starting to talk herself into coming to terms with her fate, telling herself that she was lucky to have lasted this long, but her self-pitying thoughts drifted over to what she’d be leaving behind. A throbbing pain shot through her chest making her feel as though her heart had literally broken when she thought of poor Daryl.

The heartache increased as the visual of his reaction when he realized she was gone played out in her head. He was probably going out of his mind with worry and it killed her to know how much pain she was probably causing him. She knew that at this point it was certainly easier to just give up but she couldn’t do that, not to him, but she didn’t know what else to do.

“I’ve got a guy I really care about back there. He’s probably out looking for me.” Shannon admitted aloud more to herself than to Markus.

“The guy you were with when you found me?”

“Yeah, his name’s Daryl.”

“I wouldn’t tell them about him if I were you. They’ll use that against you, believe me. And you best hope that he doesn’t find you here or they’ll use you against him.”

The pain in her chest dropped down to her stomach causing a pit to form and grow but Shannon nodded in understanding. She fought back the tears that were trying to force their way through by biting down hard on her tongue and looking away from this barer of bad news.

The idea of never seeing Daryl again was beyond tragic, something she had hoped she would never have to face, but the idea of something happening to him because of her felt so much worse. So despite the pain in her heart and her desperate hope that she would make it out of here alive, she silently prayed that Daryl wouldn’t find her.

Markus looked down at the ground in shame as he muttered to Shannon, “I gotta tell them you’re awake now.”

Shannon felt the fear rise to the back of her throat but she swallowed it down. She looked back over at him and gave a single nod in response.

“I’m sorry. I really am.” Markus avoided her eyes as he stood and walked from the tent. He hesitated for a moment and nervously readjusted his cap before reluctantly disappearing from view.

Shannon sat up as tall as she could manage. She refused to look weak in front of her interrogators no matter what they said or did. If this was the last thing she was going to do, she was going to be as brave as she could possibly be, even if she wasn’t truly brave she could at least pretend. She would be strong no matter what because that’s what was going to keep everyone she cared about safe.

When the tent flap opened and two shadows appeared Shannon chose to stare them down as her first act of strength. As the shadows turned into figures, Shannon took in what she was dealing with. The man she could only assume was Julian was exceptionally tall but that was his only striking feature. He had long stringy hair that fell to the tops of his shoulders and a nose that was much too big for his face. But when he spoke Shannon understood how this lanky man had become a leader.

He had the sickly sweet tone of a southern gentlemen that you’d be blessed to take home to your Mama and all the dangerous charm of a courtroom lawyer. But his hazel eyes told his real story, a man who craved all the power he was given too quickly and someone who always got exactly what he wanted no matter how he had to get it. He turned those sharp eyes on her and gave her a once over before turning his attention back to Lee, who seemed almost short in comparison to this giant of a man.

"Well I gotta give you credit for one thing, Lee. You sure got good taste. She's a real pretty one." 

Julian bent down to stroke her cheek with one of his long fingers but Shannon quickly jerked her face away.

“Don’t touch me,” She hissed.

“Pretty but she’s got some bite to her. Literally.” Lee flashed the teeth marks in his palm at her but kept the jester like grin on his face.

Shannon gave a quick glare to Lee before redirecting it back at Julian who had crouched down in front of her. He gave her a warm smile that would normally win over any girl but Shannon refused to be impressed. Trying her best to channel her inner Daryl, she kept her features as stone cold as possible, refusing to let any emotion but anger come through.

"Here's the thing, darlin.” Julian said, “My friend Lee here broke a big rule by bringing you back here. But I'm a nice guy and I wouldn't dream of taking that out on you."

He flashed her another smile but she strongly held onto her pokerface. Julian didn’t miss a beat by her lack of reaction and continued on;

"Now since I'm helping you out I'm thinking you should return the favor and help me out. I'm gonna ask you some questions and you're gonna answer them. Easy as pie. right? I don't plan on hurting you, I don't want to hurt you but if you don't comply we're gonna have some problems. And don't lie. I'll know if you're lying to me. Fair enough, right?"

Julian paused for her response but Shannon kept her jaw tightly shut. After a moment of silence he stood and took a step back from her.

"I'm gonna take that as a yes. Let's start with your name.”

Shannon knew she would be better off just answering his questions but she didn’t want to give in right away. Maybe she was stubborn or maybe she was just stupid but she just didn’t like the idea of these two horrendous individuals getting any satisfaction from her.

“Come on now, I thought I made things pretty clear. Now you gonna answer my very simple questions or not?"

His voice kept that charming tone even as he slowly raised his arm, flashing her the back of his hand in a distinct effort to show her he meant business. The thought of getting slapped didn’t frighten her, but she also didn’t want things to escalate so quickly so early on in her interrogation. So through clenched teeth, Shannon unwillingly handed them over her name.

“Shannon.” He slowly repeated it back to her as if he was trying to taste it. He took his time looking her over, his examination appearing as if it was more for show than anything else.

“I see Lee here gave you quite the bump on the head.” He went to touch the right side of her hairline but she flinched back, “Looks like the bleeding’s stopped but you’re gonna wanna get that cleaned out. The quicker you answer my questions, the sooner we can have that looked at.”

“I’m not falling for your bullshit.” Shannon snapped, “You have no reason to get me fixed up.”

“And why is that?”

“Cause you’re just gonna kill me once you get out of me whatever you want to know.”

“Well that’s still to be decided on. If we have a use for you we’ll keep you alive. Guess that all depends on you and what kinda information you give me.”

“Don’t have much information for you. But go ahead and ask your damn questions. I don’t have all day.”

Something flashed across Julian’s dangerous eyes. She didn’t know if she had amused him or angered him by her response but regardless, after a moment he continued his questioning.

“Got any family back at that prison, doll face?”

Shannon felt a fresh wave of anger start to build in her chest, “No. My only family got killed in your last attack. So thanks for that, ass face.”

Julian chuckled, “You are a feisty one, I like that. Got any friends? Any boyfriends? Or girlfriends? Any people you’d hate to see die?”

The little voice inside Shannon’s head screamed at her to keep up her poker face so she bit her tongue and shook her head, praying that her normally expressive eyes wouldn’t give anything away.

“My brother and I were just there for the shelter and the food. We were going to leave once they ran out of supplies. We were all about survival.”

“How _is_ the supplies situation?”

“Running very low. That’s why I was out, I was looking for some food.”

“Our boy Markus here says you got a pretty substantial amount of weapons back there. He grabbed a bunch of stuff from your inventory. Says he would have grabbed more but some kid chased him down.”

Any thoughts of holding onto her empty expression left her and a fiery rage burst through her insides burning upwards until they reached her features. The look on her face was hard to miss and Julian seemed pleased that he had finally hit a nerve with her.

“Oh was that kid your brother? The one that got killed in our last attack?” He gave her an evil grin that made her blood hit it’s boiling point, “Sorry about that, darlin’. That was my fault. I shot him. But hey all part of the job, right?”

Shannon only saw red as she fought against her restraints for a moment, wanting nothing more than to tear the grin off his face and stab the life out of him. A hurricane of emotions crashed around her which only expanded as she saw Julian’s smirk grow. He looked almost excited by her reaction, as if it brought him joy to see someone so angry and hurt.

“You son of a bitch.” Shannon screeched, “I’m gonna kill you.”

“Now now you should speak a little nicer to me. I get to decide what happens to you. And I’m sure someone back home wants to see you return safe and sound.”

Shannon froze and sucked in a deep breath. She quickly attempted to return to her stone like expression that she had seen Daryl pull off a million times. The rage that still coursed through her was making it impossible to maintain a blank expression but she tried her best. Her safety and the safety of those she loved depended on it.

“Nope, I don’t have anyone back there that cares about me. Like I said, it was just me and my brother.”

Julian took a step forward and slowly lowered himself down until he was uncomfortably close to her. Shannon felt herself involuntarily swallow as she felt his searching eyes burn into her’s.

“See I don’t think I believe that. I have a feeling you have a lot of friends back there. You said it yourself you planned to leave once they ran out of supplies but here you are going out to find more food for the group. Doesn’t seem like something someone would do for a bunch of people she’s doesn’t care about.”

Shannon wanted to scream at herself for being so stupid but instead she bit down on her tongue and refused to look away from him, silently willing herself to remain emotionless. Julian’s lips lifted into a frightening smirk;

“I bet you have someone special back home too. Someone you care about a lot. Someone worth trying to protect.”

Shannon begged her thoughts not to drift to Daryl as this terrifyingly cunning man was only inches from seeing the sweat to start to break out across her forehead. With all the effort she could muster, she shook her head.

“No,” she finally spoke. “It’s just me now. I’m only using the place for shelter, nothing more.”

“Oh come on now, why don’t you tell me about this special someone? I’d love to hear all about him.”

“There’s no one. I swear.”

She saw Julian’s jaw clench and any charm that once rested on his face disappeared and something more sinister began creeping in.

“I told you not to lie to me.” He cooly stated.

“I’m not.” Shannon whispered, the fear apparent in her voice no matter how hard she tried to keep calm. Julian stared her down for another minute, causing a chill to seep into her pores and freeze her blood. When she didn’t think she could maintain eye contact any longer, he finally stood and turned his back on her.

“Must get awful lonely having no one to share your bed with back home. That’s a real shame. Pretty little thing like you shouldn’t be lonely.” Julian turned his head and glanced at her briefly, that frightening smirk still playing on his face. He turned and headed towards the tent’s exit, but before he disappeared, he casually tossed one last thing over his shoulder;

“I think my friend Lee here can help you with that. Go on, Lee. Give the poor, lonely girl some company.”

Shannon’s breath caught in her throat and her fear turned to instant panic as saw Lee began his approach. She frantically pulled at the ropes, feeling them cutting down into her skin leaving marks and bruises, but no matter how much she twisted and tugged, her efforts were fruitless. 

Watching her frantic attempt, Lee’s dry, cracked lips pulled up into a lecherous smile, showing off his crooked yellow teeth. Shannon instinctively leaned back away from him causing her to tip over in her chair. Before she could hit the ground, Lee grabbed the front of her shirt effectively catching her mid fall. He grabbed the chair and tossed it to the side before pulling her closer to his face, his putrid breath filling her nose;

“Oh baby, you just made my whole day.”

He let go of her shirt causing her to tumble to the ground with a soft thud. She tried to wiggle away but with her wrists tied together and her ankles tied together, it was practically impossible. Lee laughed as he watched her squirm, taking in far too much enjoyment in her failure.

Finally, he kneeled down in front of her and grabbed her ankles, with one pull he had brought her back to being directly beneath him. Shannon’s breathing came in short, speedy bursts as she saw him pull a jet black tactical knife from his pocket and flipped it open. Frozen in terror she could only watch as he lowered the knife to her feet and cut the ropes from her ankles. 

He kept the knife firmly in his hand as he pulled her even closer to him. Shannon broke from her brief trance and started screaming out as reality came tumbling back reminding her of what was happening and how very real her situation was. The fear consumed her as she tried kicking at him with her now freed legs but he seemed undisturbed by her efforts.

“Keep on fightin’ me girl. I love it when they struggle.” He laughed.

Shannon cried out as he pinned her arms over her head and pressed his knee down onto her legs. He lowered the knife to the collar of her shirt and slipped in underneath the neckline. Shannon screamed out as she tried once again to break away, but it was impossible. Teasingly slow he sliced down the front of her shirt, tearing through the fabric as easily as if he was cutting through air. Shannon felt unstoppable tears flow from her eyes when she felt the fabric of her shirt flap open.

“Please don’t do this.” She whimpered.

He gave her a wicked grin as he let the knife dangle in front of her face, the glint from the sharp edges almost appearing to be winking at her.

“When I’m done with you, I’m gonna carve my name into your body. That way if we let you live, everybody will know I got here first.” Lee placed the knife back in his pocket and looked over Shannon’s exposed skin, “I’d say close your eyes, it’ll be over before you know it, but I’m gonna make this last a long time.”

Shannon opened her mouth to scream but a strange feeling overtook her and she felt as if she was frozen in shock. She let her her mind takeover as it started to wander to a different place, somewhere better. Her mind and body starting to close off to the horrible situation surrounding her, it was almost as if she could pretend she wasn’t here and this terrible thing was about to happen to someone else. She welcomed the denial, desperate for a mental escape, but before she could completely drift away, a familiar voice snapped her back to reality.

“Hey Lee!”

Markus rushed into the tent at that moment, practically tripping over his own feet as he made his way over to the two. He was careful to keep his eyes on Lee and away from Shannon.

“The hell you want, kid?” Lee snapped back over his shoulder, refusing to get up to entirely address the boy.

Markus hesitated for the briefest of seconds, as if he hadn’t thought through a plan before bursting in, “Someone told me Julian is looking for you.”

“He was just in here.”

He shrugged, “Just relating the message. But I’d go check to be sure. You know how he hates being kept waiting.”

Shannon watched as Lee thought it over before reluctantly standing and walking towards the tent’s exit, roughly bumping Markus with his shoulder as he passed him.

“Watch her. I won’t be long.” Lee looked over at the still shocked Shannon and gave her a wink, “Don’t miss me too much while I’m gone, baby.”

Markus kept his eyes firmly on the exit until he was positively sure Lee was gone. The second he felt it was safe, he rushed to Shannon and dropped to his knees in front of her.

“You alright?” He whispered.

All Shannon could do was shake her head no as her brain started to piece back together what was real and what was still her coping mechanism. Markus’ eyes dropped as he revealed the jet black knife that moments earlier had been tormenting her. He swiftly cut the ties around her wrist as Shannon finally found her voice;

“How the hell did you get that?”

“I’m good at pickpocketing, what can I say?”

“I thought you said it was too dangerous for you to let me go.”

“I did. But I heard you screaming in here and I knew I couldn’t live with myself if I let that creep get his hands on you.”

Shannon wanted so badly to throw her arms around the boy and thank him a million times but she still couldn’t shake the numbed feeling that had settled over her body.

“We don’t have much time. He’ll figure out very soon that Lee isn’t looking for him.” Markus pressed the knife into Shannon’s limp hand, “It has to look like you got away on your own, if they know I helped you I’m screwed.”

“You don’t have to do this. I don’t want to get you or your sister killed.”

“It’ll be fine. You let me go once when you could have killed me and it’s my fault your brother got bit so as I see it, we’re square. Now you seriously need to hurry up. You said you were fast right?”

Shannon nodded as she stood and place the knife in her back pocket. Suddenly remembering how exposed she was, she quickly pulled at what was left of the fabric of her shirt together and crossed her arms in an effort to cover herself.

“Good. The prison is about 11 miles away. If you run the whole way you should be able to make it back before dark.”

“How much time do I have before sunset?”

“About an hour I’d say.”

“Jesus.” Shannon groaned, “I’m fast but I don’t know about that fast.”

“You wanna stay here instead?” Markus raised an eyebrow at her as she quickly shook her head. Out of seemingly nowhere, Shannon threw her arms around the boy in a tight hug.

“Thank you, thank you so much.” She muttered to him as she pulled back. “This place seems horrible. If you and your sister ever want to get out, I promise I will vouch for you guys at the prison. It’s a great place with really good people. It would be a better home than this.”

A glimmer of hope passed across Markus’ eyes, “Seriously?”

“Absolutely.”

Markus smiled at her, “I might just take you up on that. But you need to leave right this second or neither of us will ever make it back to that prison.”

A thought suddenly dawned on Shannon, “I need to knock you out.”

“What?”

“How else are you going to explain how I got away?”

“You know how to do that?”

“Well sort of.”

“That’s comforting.” Markus nervously laughed in response.

“I use to take kickboxing classes and one of my instructors taught us how to do it but I’ve never actually tried it on a person before.”

“And you want to try now?” Markus subconsciously took a step back.

“You rather risk them not believing you when you say an injured girl, 6 inches shorter than you and about 30 pounds lighter was able to just get away while you were watching?”

“Good point.” Markus eyed her as she shook out her hands. “Is this gonna hurt bad?”

“Not if I do it right.”

“You are seriously not helping your case here.”

“Don’t care. We don’t have a choice. Kneel down and don’t move at all.”

Markus stiffened every muscle in his body as he slowly lowered himself to the ground. Shannon bit her lip as she repeatedly went over what she had to do. She lined her hand up with the side of his neck to make sure it was landing in the right spot. She took a deep breath to steady herself and looked over at him briefly.

“Sorry about this.”

Shannon quickly sliced her hand down on his carotid artery with the amount of force and speed she thought was appropriate. When Markus’ limp body fell immediately to the ground she felt momentarily relived. She quickly reached over and placed her fingers on his neck to make sure he still had a pulse. When she felt the soft beating she let go of the breath she had been holding. Not having time to congratulate herself on a successful knockout, she quickly jumped up and gave the unconscious boy a last look before darting from the tent.

When Shannon burst through she quickly glanced around the area to make sure her location correct. As soon as she figured out which way she needed to go, she took off running with no intention of stopping until she was home. 

She could see the very beginning’s of the sun start it’s decent in the sky and she sucked in her breath as she sprinted faster through the woods. She refused to look behind her as she remembered it wasn’t just the sun she was racing, she had to make sure she got as far as she could before anyone at the camp realized she was gone.

***  
Shannon’s lungs burned and her feet were screaming but she kept her eyes trained forward, watching the sun as it was creeping lower on the horizon by the second. She tried to talk her feet into going just a little further but they cried out, telling her it didn’t matter, they wouldn’t make it back before dark anyways. She didn’t want to believe it but it was true.

So despite knowing she still had quite a ways to go, she slowed to a stop and started sucking in deep breaths. She knew she would be better off taking it easy for a short bit since she would need to be at her best if she was going to be alone, and far from home after dark.

Unfortunately for her, the walking felt more excruciating than the running did but she knew she had to keep going. Despite the throbbing in her head, the pain in her feet, and the fact that at the moment she would be tempted to sell her soul for a sip of water, she pushed forward. She had come too far not to make it all the way. 

Just then she heard a rustling in the woods. She froze in her spot and tuned into her sharp hearing, scanning her eyes across the area hoping to spot who, or what was nearby. Fearing someone might have followed her, she prepared herself for an attack. It was then that the voice she needed to hear more than anything filled her ears;

“Shannon?”

She whipped around and saw standing before her, a very drained, a very sweaty, Daryl Dixon. Tears of relief filled her eyes and the world seemed to stop in those brief moments as her mind and body came to realize she had found the person she feared she would never see again. Ignoring the sharp pains in her legs, she shot herself forward towards him. 

“Daryl!” 

His precious bow fell from his grasp as he opened his arms and welcomed her into them. Her legs collapsed from exhaustion but it didn’t matter as he had picked her up by the waist and was practically squeezing the life out of her. He held her like that for a moment before he released her waist and grabbed her face. A strange mix of relief and concern playing on his features.

“Are you alright? What happened? Where the hell were you?”

Before she could even think of a response, she saw as his eyes fell upon the gash across her forehead where she had been hit by the rock. His fearful expression grew as his focus dropped to her pale features and her puffy red eyes and then down to her shirt which was ripped open down the middle exposing her bare skin. Shannon could see the fiery rage that suddenly coursed through him and burst through his eyes. 

Shannon couldn’t stop the tears that streamed down her face as Daryl pulled his leather vest from his back and draped it over her front. She couldn’t explain why but she felt ashamed, as if she had done something wrong. But when she looked down at his vest and she could see the imprinted wings staring back up at her, it reminded her that she had gotten away, that she had found Daryl, that everything was going to be fine.

“I’m okay,” Shannon choked out as Daryl pulled her tightly to his chest. “Please just take me home.”


	19. Chapter 19

Darkness had completely settled over the area by the time Daryl and Shannon had made their way back to the prison. It had felt like an eternity had past since they had found each other in the woods, so when the prison gates finally came into view, Shannon breathed a long awaited sigh of relief. Her blistered feet also cried out in joy at being so close to ending this hellish journey.

Daryl had offered her numerous times to carry her back but Shannon had refused. He hadn’t said anything but Shannon could tell he was very concerned about her and her typical stubborn side was determined to prove that she was okay, even if she knew deep down she wasn’t. So the entire walk back she ignored the pain and pushed forward wanting to get out of the woods and back to the safety of her cell as soon as possible.

Before Shannon could take another step towards the welcoming gate she felt Daryl’s calloused fingers grab hold of her hand and delicately held her back. She turned and looked over at him, confusion apparent on her face;

“What is it?”

“I just wanna make sure you’re okay before we go in there. You haven’t said much and that ain’t like you.”

Shannon bit her lower lip but nodded, “I’m fine.”

She could see Daryl struggling with what his next move would be. He didn’t believe her but he knew better than to push her so he chose his words carefully;

“You sure?”

“Ok I’m a little less than fine.” Shannon finally admitted, “But I’m going to be okay. I promise. I’m just a little shook up.”

Daryl tenderly reached over and wrapped his hand around her cheek, his thumb tracing along her cheekbone in a gesture that still made butterflies dance around her stomach.

“Whatever you need. I’m here.”

“I know. Right now I just need you, and our cell, and our bed. I just want to be home.”

Daryl slowly nodded, Shannon could see he was hoping she would tell him more, but she couldn’t, not yet at least, not here. She was beyond grateful when instead of pushing her to talk, he interlaced his fingers with her’s and lead her to the gate. The two were mere feet from the entrance when an exuberant voice filled her ears;

“Hey! You guys are back!”

Shannon caught sight of an enthusiastic looking Glenn rushing to the gate to help open it for them. Before she even had a foot inside, Glenn had thrown his arms around her in a tight embrace. She didn’t dare tell him how sore her body was, she was too pleased that he seemed genuinely happy to see her. Shannon gave him a squeeze back and looked up to see a look of pure disbelief frozen on Sasha’s face. She chuckled light heartedly at the reaction;

“Nice to see you too, Sasha.”

Surprisingly, Sasha stumbled forward and shoved Glenn out of the way to give Shannon a quick hug.

“When it got dark and you guys didn’t come back I thought…” Sasha paused but Shannon pulled from her arms to give her a look of understanding.

“It’s okay. I didn’t think I’d make it back either. But we’re okay.”

“What happened? It was like you just disappeared.” Glenn interrupted.

Shannon hesitated as she weighed her options. She truly didn’t want to talk about it. She was safe and home and that was all she cared about. She honestly just wanted to forget the whole incident occurred. She feared if she thought about it too much it would bother her and if Daryl knew she was bothered by it, she feared what he might do. So Shannon tried to pull off the best nonchalant shrug she could manage before responding;

“If it’s all the same to you guys, can we talk about this tomorrow? I’m beat and just want to go to bed.”

She must not have been as convincing as she thought she was because out of the corner of her eye she saw Daryl and Glenn share a brief, concerned look. She turned her eyes away from them as she witnessed Glenn finally notice Daryl’s vest draped around her front. Fighting the panic, she quickly racked her brain to come up with a believable excuse but before they could say anything about it, Sasha came to her rescue;

“Of course. We’ll let Rick know you’re back because he was concerned about you guys. Now go get some sleep.”

Shannon smiled over at her in a subtle effort to show how much she appreciated her support, “Thank you. I’ll talk to Rick tomorrow. It’s not super pressing but I suppose I should let him know some things I found out.”

She gave her friends one last reassuring look before starting to head off to her cell with Daryl following closely behind.

Shannon had never been more excited to see her cell in her life. A place she had once considered a cold, damp, claustrophobia inducing sleeping space had somehow turned into a private sanctuary. The place looked even more appealing with the unshakable memory that earlier she had been almost 100% certain she would never seen it again. 

Shannon made a move to collapse on the bed but stopped in her tracks when she felt the burning eyes of Daryl on her back. She glanced over at the still tense man and for the first time in a very, very long time, realized she was at a loss for words. All she wanted in that moment was to feel his strong arms around her as she drifted off to sleep but something about that innocent request didn’t feel right. Her overthinking brain convincing her that he’d only be more worried if he knew she needed him.

She grabbed the ends of her long hair and pulled at them self consciously as she worked up the courage to be as convincing as possible with her next thoughts;

“You don’t have to come to bed already. I know it’s still early and if you want to go off and do whatever it is you usually do at this time, I’ll be fine on my own.”

Daryl quickly shook his head in response, “Nah. I wouldn’t be able to concentrate on anything anyways. I rather be here with you.” He paused a moment and awkwardly readjusted the bow on his shoulder, “Unless, you don’t want me here right now.”

“No that’s not it at all,” Shannon hastily reacted, “I want you to be here I was just giving you an out, just in case you didn’t want to be.”

Daryl shot her an _“are you serious”_ look before dropping his bow and plopping himself down onto their bed. He rested his arm behind his head as he looked back over at her;

“Good. Cause I don’t think I want you outta my sight ever again.”

Shannon rolled her eyes, “Nice thought but I don’t think that’s possible.”

“Yeah we’ll see.”

Shannon made a move to join him on the bed, but stopped herself. Suddenly remembering Daryl’s vest still draped around her, covering up her ruined shirt, and the large knife sticking out of her back pocket. She hesitated, not wanting any reminders on her before she joined him on the bed. She made a move towards the box that kept the few things she owned, quickly digging through she grabbed a new shirt and hastily threw it on.

She slipped the black knife from her pocket and without even glancing at it, she wrapped it within the ripped shirt and shoved it deep inside the box before kicking it back under the bed. Feeling oddly self conscious, Shannon avoided Daryl’s eyes as she delicately placed his leather vest on a nearby chair and finally joined him on the bed. She made herself comfortable by curling herself up to him and resting her head on his chest.

He wrapped an arm around her shoulders to bring her closer before quietly muttering his next thoughts, “I know you don’t wanna talk about it, but I just gotta say I’m glad you’re alright. You scared the hell outta me today.”

“I’m really sorry.”

“I didn’t tell you to make you apologize. I just wanted to tell ya cause, well,” He paused again, taking his time thinking over what his next choice of words would be, “I’m just real glad you’re safe now and you’re home.”

“Me too, Daryl.” She took hold of his hand and placed a gentle kiss on his knuckles, “You have no idea how happy I am to be back here with you.”

She felt his lips land softly on the top of her head before Daryl muttered to her;

“Night, Shannon.”

“Goodnight, Daryl.”

***

Shannon’s was overwhelmed by grogginess as she felt herself being unwillingly pulled from a deep dreamless sleep. Confusion settled upon her as her eyes fluttered open and she realized very quickly that the pitch blackness surrounding the area meant it was still the middle of the night. She turned herself over in an attempt to fall back to sleep but was bewildered to find herself alone in bed. With a start, she sat up and looked towards the doorway.

“It’s alright, I’m here.”

Shannon’s eyes flashed to the corner of the cell where she found Daryl sitting on a stool, leaning back against the cool wall.

“What are you doing awake?” Her voice still sounded groggy from being pulled so suddenly from her slumber.

“Couldn’t sleep.”

Shannon watched him for a moment. She could tell this wasn’t his normal quiet, contemplative state. Something was bothering him. She shook away the last bits of fatigue and pulled the blankets back. He watched her carefully as she stepped out of bed and towards him. He raised his eyebrow at her when she reached forward and took his hand, forcing him to stand up.

“I have an old trick that use to help me sleep,” she grinned at him. “Come on.”

Whether he thought it was a good idea, he was just being a good sport about it, or he truly didn’t know how to say no to her, she had no idea. She was just glad he didn’t fight her as she quietly pulled him along to their old secret meeting spot.

The memories came tumbling back to her when the warm air breezed across her face. It had been a very long since the two had spent an evening out there but the area still held some of her favorite memories. Shannon allowed herself a few more steps to enjoy her bare feet grazing through the soft grass before she finally stopped and turned towards Daryl. 

She met his eyes and found they were holding onto something that he was keeping from her. She waited a moment, allowing him the chance to speak but when the only sound that filled her ears was the wind through the trees, she sighed deeply and let go of his hand.

“Come on, Daryl. Tell me what you’re thinking about.”

He remained silent, his piercing eyes the only telling sign on his stone-like face that something was wrong. Shannon turned away from him and took in the darkness of the area and soft sounds that the Georgia twilight had to offer before finally opening her mouth to speak;

“I know something’s bothering you. I wish you would just tell me what it was.”

Another excruciatingly long minute or so passed before Daryl finally broke his silence;

“I don’t want you goin’ on runs anymore.”

Shannon turned back around, feeling only partially surprised by his confession, “Why not?”

“You know why not.”

“Because of what happened today?”

Daryl’s jaw tightened as he nodded once in response. Shannon huffed and pulled at the ends of her hair. She couldn’t blame him for feeling this way but she loved going on runs, it was one of the only things that she felt gave her purpose in this new world, she needed to be out there.

“I was stupid, it was my fault. I made a mistake, a really big mistake. I shouldn’t have gone off on my own but I know that now and it’s not going to happen again.”

“Shannon, please. I never ask you for anythin’. Can’t you just do this one thing for me?”

“I’ve been on a hundred runs before. Just because I made one stupid decision doesn’t mean I should have to stop.” Shannon felt like a whining teenager but she couldn’t help herself. She couldn’t stand the idea of being trapped behind the fences while Daryl went off without her.

“I’d feel a whole lot better if you just stayed here.” Daryl went to reach out to her but she pushed his hand away.

“And how would I feel? You off on runs for hours and hours while I have to sit here and wait and worry about you. And what if you don’t come back?” Shannon couldn’t fight the tears that came to her eyes as that possibility assaulted her mind, “What am I suppose to do then? How am I suppose to live with myself if something happened to you on a run and I wasn’t there for you?”

“Don’t you get it?” Daryl snapped, “That almost happened today! You were just gone and I didn’t know where the hell you went or what happened to you. I thought I lost you! And there was nothin’ I could do about it!”

Daryl took a breath and ran a hand through his hair in an effort to calm himself down. Not knowing what to say, Shannon watched him in silence as the hot tears continued to roll down her cheeks. When he finally glanced back up at her, the look on his face broke her heart.

“Shannon, I can’t lose you. I won’t lose you. Please just stay here from now on. Where you’ll be safe.”

“It’s not safe anywhere and you know that. I lost my brother inside these fences, remember? I thought for sure as long as he stayed inside he would be safe, but he wasn’t.” Shannon looked at him with as much determination as she could muster. “I can’t stay behind these walls like a caged animal, I have to be out there, I have to be with you.”

Daryl challenged her with a firm look of his own. She knew in that moment that he truly meant it, he wasn’t going to back down. Despite knowing this, she wasn’t ready to give up, not yet. They continued to stare each other down until Daryl finally broke the silence with a forceful voice;

“What happened to you out there?”

Shannon swallowed down her nerves, “What’d you mean?”

“You said you were fine but I saw your shirt, I saw the blood in your hair. Where were you? What happened?” His eyes locked on her’s and she felt a strange hypnotic effect take hold and she couldn’t bring herself to look away no matter how much she wanted to.

“Nothing.”

Daryl’s eyes narrowed and his jaw tightened, “Don’t lie to me, girl.”

“It’s only going to upset you if I tell you. All that matters now is that I’m okay.”

“Shannon, please tell me. My mind just keeps goin’ to dark places every time I think about it.”

“Then don’t think about it.” She whispered back timidly. 

There was a sudden change in his demeanor as Daryl finally broke their intense eye contact to look down at the ground. Shannon almost didn’t catch the words he spoke as they were barely above a whisper;

“I tried. I can’t not think about it. I gotta know.”

Shannon hesitated. She really didn’t want to talk about her ordeal with him but she felt like she had no choice. She could see it was weighing him down and she could only guess that his imagination was drawing worse conclusions than anything that actually happened.

It made her sick thinking about what could have happened if she hadn’t of been so lucky, she didn’t want Daryl to have to feel the way she did about it. She desperately wanted to keep it to herself but she soon felt that old pull deep in her gut that made her want to tell all her secrets to the man standing before her, so before she could think twice about it, she let the words spill from her lips;

“I found a rabbit in the woods and I tried chasing it down. I hadn’t found much in that general store so I thought it would be nice if I was able to get us fresh meat. I went too far and one of the men from the group that attacked the prison found me out there.” She saw Daryl finally look back up at her, his eyes darkening with anticipation. 

“He grabbed me and knocked me out with a rock. Then he brought me back to his camp. That’s what the blood was from.”

“And your shirt?”

Shannon swallowed and looked down at the ground, “Nothing happened.”

“What did they do to you?”

She could hear the anger building in Daryl’s voice and for some reason it made her nervous. She tried to speak but couldn’t find the words so she only shook her head. After a moment of stillness, she felt Daryl’s presence appear in front of her but she still couldn’t bring herself to look at him. He placed his hand gently under her chin and lifted her head until their eyes met.

“I ain’t mad at you,” he said gently. “Just tell me what happened.”

Shannon found some strength in his piercing eyes but she still fought back her nerves as she tried to tell him the rest of the story as best she could. She wanted to be strong, to tell him the details as if it wasn’t a big deal, but she fumbled and it all came out in broken pieces;

“The man who took me…He tried to...But he didn’t get the chance.” She attempted to drop her eyes but Daryl held her firmly in place, “He threatened me, he pinned me down, and he cut open my shirt. He was going to…” Shannon couldn’t bring herself to finish that sentence so she quickly moved on before the tears could find there way back to her eyes, “But before he could do anything that kid Markus, the one in the red vest, he distracted him and helped me get away. I ran as far as I could as fast as I could. And then you found me.”

She didn’t like the look that passed across Daryl’s features as he finally dropped his hand from her face. It was beyond anger, beyond fury. It was a cold, dark, murderous look and it took everything in her not to want to take a step back.

“He touched you?”

“Yes, but no worse than that.”

A chill went through her as she watched Daryl back away a few steps and turn from her. She held her breath as he paced back and forth looking like a predator ready to attack. She wanted to say something that would calm him down but her over exhausted brain refused to help so she let the silence go on, hoping that he just needed a moment to get his thoughts together. Finally, without any warning, he stormed over to closest prison wall and smashed his fist against it.

“Daryl!” Shannon cried out as she watched him pound his fist against the wall again. She rushed towards him and grabbed his arm in an effort to stop the madness, “See this is why I didn’t want to tell you!”

“I’m gonna kill him.” He spoke through gritted teeth but his voice was so menacing it would have frightened her under any other circumstances. 

“If you ever see him again you have my full permission to kill him. But I’m okay, Daryl. I promise.”

He finally turned around and he no longer seemed like the terrifying man she had witnessed moments earlier. He now seemed defeated and devastated as he looked at her through pieces of his hair;

“How can you be okay?”

“Because it could have been worse, a lot worse.”

“So he didn’t…”

“No.” Shannon quickly interrupted, “Almost. But no.”

Daryl made a move to reach out and touch her but something held him back, “I shoulda’ been there. I shoulda’ seen you walk off. I could have stopped him.”

“It’s my fault, not your’s. I shouldn’t have wandered away, I know better than that.”

“But if I had my eye on you…”

Shannon grabbed hold of his face before he could say another word to convince himself that he was to blame, “Then you wouldn’t have been doing your job. This isn’t your fault.”

Daryl looked as if he wanted to argue with her but held back. The two continued to watch each other in silence. As they stared at each other it became undeniably apparent to both of them that if things had gone differently this moment wouldn’t have happened. The scary reality was, mere hours ago, they had been inches away from never seeing each other again. So despite their disagreements on how to handle the situation and the problems they had yet to solve, none of that was important at the moment. All that mattered was they were together, that at least for now they were safe, that they had each other.

After some time, Daryl was the first to break away. He awkwardly fidgeted as he reached in his back pocket and hesitantly pulled out the red rag he always kept there, actively avoiding her eye contact the entire time.

“I uh, I got you somethin’. Found it in that general store. Ain’t much but I thought you’d like it.”

He held onto it tightly for a moment longer before reluctantly handing over the loosely wrapped rag. Shannon grinned as she grabbed it from him quickly before he had the chance to change his mind.

“Daryl Dixon, did you go and get all romantic on me?”

“Just saw it and thought of you is all.”

Shannon gently pulled back the layers until it revealed the silver locket he had found earlier that day. Her heart melted in that moment as she took in the details, running her fingers over the engraved flowers and the smooth metal. She looked up at the apprehensive man and gave him a genuine smile.

“It’s beautiful! I love it.” 

“Yeah?” Daryl’s ears turned pink but she saw his lips curl up into a pleased half smile. Shannon nodded back at him.

“I really do. Help me put it on.”

She handed him the necklace and turned her back to him. She tried suppressing the giddy smile that was threatening to emerge as she felt his fingers fumbling with the clasp in an inexperienced way, revealing to her that he had never put a necklace on someone before. When it finally felt secured she admired it and turned back to look at him.

“I didn’t even get anything for you, shame on me.”

Daryl shrugged in response, tenderly reaching forward to play with the locket now dangling around her neck;

“I don’t need anything besides you. And to know you’re safe… Here, inside the prison.”

Shannon laughed and rolled her eyes at him, “Bribing me with a necklace isn’t going to get me to stop going on runs.”

“It was worth a shot.” He leaned down and gently kissed her, his fingers grazing down her cheek, lingering a moment before inching himself back. “Come on. we should go inside.”

“Or we could stay out here.”

“Here?”

“Why not? I always liked it better outside anyways.” Shannon stroked her locket as she grinned at him, “We can pretend we’re camping.”

“You really like playing make believe, huh?” Daryl shook his head but sighed when he saw that she was serious, “Alright, we can sleep out here.”

Shannon’s smile widened as she glanced around the area to find a soft patch of grass. When she finally found a promising spot, she rushed to it and lowered herself to the ground. She ran her fingers through the weeds and the dandelions and laid down on her back before determining that it would do for the night. She placed her hands behind her head and gazed up at the stars while she waited for Daryl to get the hint and join her. 

She didn’t have to wait very long at all before she felt his warm body lay down beside her on the cool ground. She looked over at him and smiled, pleased that he was once again humoring her silly wishes.

“See, isn’t this nice?”

“It ain’t bad.”

Shannon rolled her eyes and readjusted herself so she was laying in her usual spot on his chest, “Well I like it.”

“You say that now. But you’re gonna end up being cold and then tomorrow you’re gonna complain that the ground was hard.”

“You make me sound like a pampered brat.”

“You sayin’ I’m wrong?”

“Well no, but stop being so negative about it and just enjoy it. Can’t you ever just simply like anything with having something bad to say about it first?”

Daryl paused for a minute as he thought it over. The feeling of his fingers absentmindedly brushing through her hair making Shannon feel sleep to start to weigh on her so she let her eyes flutter shut. Before she could drift off entirely she heard Daryl mutter his response;

“I like you.”

Shannon felt a familiar flutter go through her chest at the admission. He very rarely spoke about how he felt so she couldn’t help but get a little giddy at his unprompted confession. Her lips pulled up into a smile as she snuggled herself even closer onto him.

“Good. Cause I like you too, Daryl.”


	20. Chapter 20

Daryl and Shannon were oblivious to the world surrounding them as the deep darkness of a dreamless sleep had claimed them both. The hot summer sun couldn’t rise them, the clatter and ruckus from the day’s work coming from below wouldn’t stir them, and even the soft thuds of approaching foot steps wasn’t enough arouse them. They most likely would have kept on dozing for a few more hours if it wasn’t for the loud, sharp voice that cut through the air;

“The hell you two doing out here?”

The sudden break in silence was finally enough to startle both Shannon and Daryl out of their deep sleep. Maggie couldn’t help but chuckle at their reaction as the two abruptly sat straight up.

“We have been looking for you both everywhere. There are two people at the gate claiming they know you, Shannon. Rick won’t let them in until he talks to you first.”

Shannon shielded her eyes from the overwhelming sunlight as she glanced up at Maggie.

“What do you mean? Who’s at the gate?”

“A young boy and a girl. They say their name’s are Markus and Kasey.”

The names took a moment to sink into Shannon’s sleepy brain but once they did, she immediately jumped to her feet. She didn’t waste a moment asking Maggie anymore questions or even giving Daryl an explanation before she started rushing towards the front gate. 

She had told Markus they were welcome to come to the prison but she never would have expected them to arrive so soon after her invitation. She wasn’t sure if their speedy arrival was cause for concern or not, all she knew was her instincts had kicked in and she had to get to them as soon as possible.

She picked up speed as she saw the gates and the two thin figures waiting behind them come into a view. Shannon also saw a small group stood before them and was watching the two with apprehensive anticipation. As she got closer she saw Markus’ focus turn to her, a look of restricted relief spread across his tight features. His protective hands tightening around the shoulders of the girl standing next to him as she also turned her eyes to Shannon.

The girl, who Shannon could only assume was his younger sister Kasey, had the most vibrant auburn hair that fell in silky waves down her back. She was quite petite, couldn’t be more than 5 feet tall, and most of her facial features matched her tiny frame. That was except for her eyes which were the biggest Shannon had even seen. Her small size made her look like a child but her face caused her to look far older than her 14 years. She had a distinct appearance that reminded Shannon of a porcelain doll and all it’s haunting beauty.

When Shannon finally tore her eyes from the girl she glanced over at the small group that had formed. Sasha and Tyreese stood side by side casting glances back and forth between the two strangers on the other side of the fence and then back to Shannon. Daryl had also managed to stay close behind Shannon when she had darted to the gate and had made his way over to stand beside her. Then there was Rick, the man who had once greeted her so long ago with a simple, calm nature now appeared tense and unsure. He looked to Shannon for answers once her eyes found his.

“I know these two. They are good people I swear.” Shannon stated firmly.

Rick’s eye shifted to the nervous siblings briefly before returning to her, “How do you know them?”

“The boy’s name is Markus, he saved my life yesterday. The girl is his little sister, Kasey. She’s as harmless as a fly. You have my word, Rick.”

Rick nodded once and furrowed his brow in contemplation. Shannon turned to look at the two tense siblings and a wave of deja vu crashed down on her like a storm. It was a scenario she knew all too well, having experienced it herself once before, two siblings standing on the opposite side of the gate, not knowing who to trust or what to expect, but desperate for safety and willing to take the risk. Her heart ached knowing she couldn’t promise them they would be safe but knew they were better off in here than they were out there.

Rick still looked unsure and Shannon held her breath in anticipation as the moments passed by feeling like hours. She couldn’t blame him for his hesitation. There had been too many incidents, too much death and destruction, things weren’t as simple as they had appeared when Tyler and her had shown up a year ago. Precautions had to be taken, difficult decisions had to be made.

When Shannon thought she couldn’t take the suspense any longer, he finally opened his mouth to speak;

“I’m going to ask you two a few questions.” Rick’s voice startled Shannon back to reality but the familiarity of the words he spoke kept her partially in that odd world of deja vu, “I’m going to ask you the questions together, but please answer them separately. If your answers are acceptable, you can join us. Most importantly, I need you to be honest.”

Markus looked over at Shannon. His jaw remained tight and he furrowed his brow in a way that made him look like a punk teenager trying to act tough, but the way the grasp on his sister made his knuckles turn white gave him away.

Shannon gave him a small smile and a reassuring nod that made him slightly loosen his grip. He turned from her and looked back over at Rick.

“Alright Whatever ya gotta do.”

“How many walkers have you killed?”

Markus almost looked taken back by the question, as if he was expecting something far worse. It caused him to stutter out his answer which ruined his tough guy persona.

“Uh, a lot? Maybe 100, or something?”

Ricked looked down at Kasey who just stared back at him. Her large eyes making her look like a deer in headlights. Markus gently squeezed her shoulder in an effort to get her to speak.

“None, sir.”

“How many people have you killed?”

Markus’ body tensed up as he quickly looked over at Shannon. She knew immediately what he was thinking and gave a subtle shake of her head to tell him that no, her brother’s death didn’t count. Upon confirmation his eyes fell to the floor before he answered;

“Just one.”

“Why?”

“Not long after everything went bad, Kasey was watching our stash when some kid I knew busted in. He tried taking it all and when I tried to stop him he grabbed Kasey and threatened to kill her. It wasn’t something I wanted to do, but I knew I had to. The world’s different now.”

Rick nodded and looked down at Kasey who spoke with her head down, her voice soft;

“I haven’t killed anybody because I haven’t needed to.”

Shannon whipped her head to Rick’s general direction. Her heart beating in anticipation for his verdict. He slowly looked towards the others and waited as they all gave their nods of approval before finally gesturing to Tyreese to open the gate. As soon as the gate opened, Shannon felt a strange protective urge take over and she quickly ushered the two in.

“I’m glad to see you but I never expected you to get here so soon.” Shannon confessed once they were safely within the closed fences.

“We had to get out as soon as possible,” Markus responded. 

“Why? What’s wrong?”

Markus’ eyes lowered to his sister and then he glanced back up at Shannon. “Could we maybe speak somewhere a little more private?”

Getting the hint right away Shannon redirected her attention to Rick.

“Maybe Carol can get Kasey something to eat? The poor thing must be famished.”

“I’ll take her.” Tyreese’s kind voice suddenly breaking through as he stepped forward. Shannon and he quickly sharing a small smile as he approached the siblings.

Kasey had to crane her neck to get a good look at the much taller man. Frightened, she took a half a step back causing her to bump into her older brother. Markus immediately whispered something comforting in her ear which seemed to ease her mind but her body remained stiff as she proceeded to follow Tyreese off. She cast one more wary look at her brother before disappearing out of sight.

“She doesn’t trust anyone anymore.” Markus confessed as his eyes stayed glued to the shrinking figures of his sister and the gentle giant beside her.

“I know the feeling,” Shannon remarked. “But this is a good place with good people. She’ll learn to trust again.”

Markus nodded and briefly looked around at the remaining few who stood before him. He nervously readjusted his baseball cap over his long hair and cleared his throat.

“I’m not sure how much Shannon told you about me, if she told you anything at all. But I was part of the group that attacked your home.”

Shannon felt the burning eyes dart to her as Markus hurried to finish his next thoughts.

“My sister and I ain’t like them though I swear. I only told you in the effort of full disclose. We were only with them cause we were desperate for a shelter and at the time they were the only people around willing to give us a place to sleep. We found out real quick that they weren’t good people but we had to stay until we had somewhere else to go. We got out as soon as we could, when Shannon told us we’d be welcome here. But that ain’t the only reason we’re here.” Markus looked from Shannon to Daryl and then to Sasha, his focus finally landing on Rick;

“I think they’re planning another attack”

Shannon felt a cold shiver run down her spine as the words left his lips. 

“Why do you say that?” Rick quickly responded

Markus turned back to Shannon, “After you escaped our camp yesterday…”

“Escaped? What is he talking about, Shannon?” Rick looked to her, his reaction a mix of confusion and concern. Markus shot her a look, his features beginning to pale;

“Sorry. I figured they knew.”

Shannon felt her throat close up but she maintained eye contact with Rick in order to portray that she was calm about it, she couldn’t let the topic slip from the main concern.

“While out on our run yesterday I was taken by someone in that group. Markus here saved me and helped me escape.” She silently pleaded with Rick to turn back his attention to Markus which he did after a moment.

“After your interrogation…”

Rick quickly jumped in again to Shannon’s dismay, his tone the kind of gentle harshness a protective sibling would have, “They interrogated you?”

Shannon quickly shook her head and kept her focus on Markus, “It’s fine. We can talk about this later. Markus, just keep talking. What you have to say is more important and far more time sensitive.”

Markus looked warily from Shannon and Rick before finally continuing his story. In that moment, Shannon felt Daryl’s calloused fingers graze lightly over her wrist, making her tightly fisted fingers begin to relax. It was a surprise when she felt his fingers interlace with her’s making a much needed calmness wash over her.

“After they interrogated you, Julian, our leader, was convinced you guys had more to hide. Something that was worth going after. And I think he didn’t like that you got away. No one ever gets away from him. So he might be more after revenge than anything.”

“If you knew they were planning an attack, why didn’t you just wait it out? Sneak away when no one was around to try to stop you. Why come to the place they were going to attack?” Sasha suspiciously questioned the teen.

“I wanted to warn you.” Markus’ eyes lowered, “That and, after Shannon escaped, Lee, the guy who took her, he was furious. He kept getting in my face saying it was all my fault that she got away. I didn’t care at first, but then he started saying I owed him and that’s when I realized he meant he was going to go after Kasey.” Markus took a breath and once again reached for his hat, “I knew we couldn’t stick around a second longer, so as soon as it got dark we bolted. I rather risk standing with you guys for an attack than being with those monsters for another second.”

There was a moment of silence as everyone took in his words. Thoughts rushed through Shannon’s head faster than she had time to process any of the information and she could sense everyone else around her felt the same way. It was then Rick broke the silence by speaking the words that scared her the most;

“How much time do we have?”

“A little, but not much.” Markus looked up at him, “Our leader Julian is a smart guy and he doesn’t like to rush into things. He likes to plan. But he won’t want to waste too much time once he realizes Kasey and I are gone. He’ll probably figure out we came here.”

Rick nodded and stroked his beard, his expression calm as a whirlwind of plans whipped through his head, “We have to get to them before they get to us.”

Shannon felt Daryl’s grip tighten as Rick words spilled from his mouth. Shannon looked over at him trying to read his poker face,

“What are you sayin’, Rick?” Daryl muttered.

“We’re gonna have to attack. We’re gonna put a group together and take them out before they take us out. It’s the only way. They’ve killed our people before, attacked us more than once, and that was before they had any sort of revenge on their minds. If they mean business this time we’re looking at a lot more damage and a lot more death. I won’t have it. We gotta get to them first.”

Daryl looked down at Shannon, the briefest second of fear passing over his eyes before he quickly looked away.

“It ain’t my place to say,” Markus cut in, his voice trying to remain firm but calm “But there ain’t all bad people there. There’s some women that are as much stuck there as we were. A couple of kids too. If you’re thinking of attacking, can I ask that you spare them?”

Sasha took this chance to step in, “How many?”

“Can’t be more than 10? There’s maybe 50 in the group total. I’d say 10 or 15 tops of the good ones.”

Everyone turned to look at Rick for the final decision. Shannon let out a quiet breath as she watched the contemplating man. It was a lot to take in all at once. Far too many choices to be made in such a short period of time. It made Shannon grateful she wasn’t the leader and didn’t have people depending on her for such big decisions. 

As she awaited his answer, a strange realization dawned on her, she hoped with all her heart that Rick allowed these few to be spared. The realization shocked Shannon who had always known herself to be distrustful, all about survival, and against anything that might risk the safety of the people she cared about. And yet here she was suddenly letting that go in order to help a few victimized strangers that she didn’t know at all. Before she could fully let whatever that meant for herself sink in, she heard Rick speak;

“Fine. But only under very strict rules.” Rick kept a careful eye on Markus as he stated his demands, “When we go, you will quietly and discreetly take the ‘good ones’ aside. You’ll take them to a secluded spot away from the danger and wait for us to reconvene. You will under no circumstances bring them back to the prison without us. You understand?”

Markus nodded fervently in response.

“We will have to have them answer the three questions and only once they’ve been approved by all of us will we bring them back.” Rick turned to the rest of the small group gathered, “Can we all agree on that?”

Shannon was the first to nod her head which got an immediate look from Daryl. She glanced back up at him, his facial features drilling into hers but she squeezed his hand hoping he could just understand that this was something she truly wanted even if she didn’t know why. Without taking his eyes off of her he responded,

“Yeah, sounds fair.”

Sasha then also nodded in agreement. Markus tried to keep his tough guy exterior but Shannon could see his shoulders relax in relief. 

“Gather everyone. We need to make a plan immediately.” Rick stated, “We leave for their camp at dawn.”

Shannon went to turn to dash off with the others to help gather everyone but was stopped in her tracks by Rick’s gentle voice.

“Shannon, hold on, stay back a minute. I’d like to speak with you.”

She turned back around feeling like a student called out by their teacher. She stayed glued to her spot as she watched Sasha and Markus take off. Daryl finally released her hand but refused to budge from his place beside her and she knew that whatever Rick had to say, Daryl would have to be present to hear it too.

Shannon had a sinking feeling in her gut about what he wanted to talk about so she waited anxiously for him to be the first to speak. The unfaltering leader who spoke of attacks and plans melted away and all that was left was the tender look of a concerned friend as Rick took a few steps towards the stiff Shannon;

“You were taken by this group? Interrogated by them? Why didn’t I know about this?” The worried tone in his voice was so thick it helped ease away some of Shannon’s nerves but those feelings were replaced by embarrassment disguised as defensiveness.

“It happened yesterday. I was going to come talk to you today but then this whole thing happened. I didn’t really have a chance to update you.” 

“It sounds like you went through hell. Are you okay?”

Shannon’s eyes instinctively wanted to drop to avoid his gaze but she refused to allow that kind of weakness and only nodded instead, “Yeah I’m fine.”

Doubt filled his face as Rick furrowed his brow. He paused a moment before glancing over to Daryl, looking for confirmation from him that she was indeed fine. Shannon had to bite the inside of her cheek to prevent herself from rolling her eyes at his reaction. Part of her knowing he only did it because he cared about her but another part of her hating the fact that he needed approval from her significant other instead of just taking her word for it. When Daryl didn’t respond, Shannon chose to interject.

“We don’t have the luxury of dwelling on the past. It happened but I got out thanks to Markus and I’m none the worse for wear, I promise. Now we really need to focus on the task at hand.” Shannon swallowed down her anger and switched her tone, “I appreciate your concern, I really do. I just want to move on from it.”

Rick nodded in understanding but the worry stayed etched on his face. He looked away from her a moment before continuing on with his next piece of business.

“I also wanted to bring up one other thing.”

Shannon tilted her head with curiosity, remaining silent in order for him to finish.

“We’ve managed to keep Tyler’s cell empty for as long as we could. But we don’t know how many people we may be bringing back tomorrow. There’s a real good chance we might have to give someone his cell.”

Shannon’s heart dropped as that reality sunk in. She hadn’t spent any time in his cell in months, his remaining belongings being cleared out the weeks following his death, but the idea of someone else making a home in his space made a sick feeling start to turn within her stomach. In a way it didn’t seem fair but she bit down her personal feelings and nodded in understanding, 

“I knew it couldn’t be empty forever. I appreciate that you kept it that way for as long as you could. Thanks for the heads up.”

The reminder of Tyler re-sparked the anger that had settled after her escape and reminded Shannon of the horrible people that waited for them at that camp. She had been personally hurt by multiple people there and she couldn’t let them get away with it. And there was one in particular she had promised she would kill, a promise that she suddenly desperately wanted to keep. Before she had the chance to think through her words, they came tumbling out of her;

“I want to be part of the group that goes tomorrow. It’s really important to me and I’ve been there before so I think I can be an asset.”

Rick hesitated, “You’ve been through a lot. Do you think that’s wise?”

“Rick, please.” Shannon paused to catch her breath, trying her best to remain level headed while she spoke. “These people tried to do horrible things to me, they’ve threatened and hurt the people I care about, they killed my brother. I have to be part of this, I have to end the tragedies they started. Please Rick.”

His eyes stayed locked on her’s as if he was trying to read her thoughts. Shannon held her breath the entire time, silently trying to convey how much she needed this. After some time Rick finally nodded his head.

“You’re tough and a good fighter. It’ll be good to have you there but only if you’re feeling up to it. I know this is personal but if it’s too personal you might get sloppy and make mistakes. Just keep that in mind.” Rick paused for a response but when she said nothing he continued, “Let’s hurry up and gather everyone. We have to be ready.”

Shannon went to follow Rick but felt herself be held back. She turned and saw that the normally stone-faced hunter looked fear stricken, his tan skin paling as he looked at her. Shannon grabbed hold of his face immediately and stepped closer to him.

“What is it? You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”

“You want to go back there?”

Shannon furrowed her brow, “I have to go back there.”

“I thought we said no more runs?”

“You said no more runs. I didn’t agree to anything.” Shannon gave him a lighthearted smile but he still looked as if he would be sick, “We don’t have time to talk about this right now. Every second counts. Come on.”

Shannon grabbed hold of his hand and started pulling him along. She could feel his light resistance but couldn’t fully grasp the panic that was starting to overwhelm him knowing he had only just gotten her back and wasn’t ready to let her go off again, especially not right towards the men that had planned on doing unspeakable things to her. She didn’t notice any of his building fear because her focus and thoughts were firmly on one thing and one thing only…

And that was revenge.


	21. Chapter 21

It had been hours of arguments, agreements, interruptions and compromises but finally a plan that just about everyone could wrap their heads around was put in place.

At sunrise, Rick was going to lead a group of 30 to the camp with Markus showing them the way. When they arrived at the camp, the group would split up, surround the area and take them by surprise, killing anyone who fought back. It was cause for much debate as it felt needlessly cruel but soon everyone was convinced it was necessary. 

Markus willingly gave details about how his former group was merciless, killing anyone they came across and attacking large groups just for their supplies. If they felt a group was a threat to them, they rarely left survivors. That was the fate they were to expect if they didn’t take care of this. Meanwhile, back at the prison, guards would be standing watch and ready just incase anyone made their way to them first.

It was simple, yet complicated and everyone was a little apprehensive. Everyone, that is, except Shannon who just wanted to get there and kill the man who had shot her brother. For months she had desperately wanted the aching feelings she couldn’t escape to finally be relieved, and she was sure it would if she ended the life of the one who took her brother away. 

She knew deep down that Tyler had been bit and getting shot wasn’t his true demise but she needed someone to blame and that person, she decided, was the cruel man who looked at a young man running towards their truck and didn’t think twice about shooting him in the stomach. Shannon hated Julian, hated him more than words could convey, and she was going to kill him.

These dark thoughts burned through her brain from the end of the meeting all the way back to the cells. It was such a distraction that Shannon didn’t even notice that Daryl hadn’t said a single word since before the meeting had begun. It wasn’t until they had reached the outside of their cell that he finally willed himself to speak;

“Shannon, I gotta talk to you about somethin’.”

The seriousness in his tone made her freeze in place and finally quieted her rushing thoughts. She turned towards him and took in his worried features;

“You alright? What is it?”

“It’s about tomorrow.”

Shannon waited patiently as she watched him battle with what he wanted to say. After a few moments of his struggle she finally opened her mouth to speak but before she could utter a single word, she was interrupted by an unexpected passing visitor.

“Hey I’m glad I caught you.” 

Shannon turned to see Markus and Kasey hastily approach, giving her a wary smile as they got closer.

“Sorry, can it wait a second? Daryl was about to…”

“Nah, not a big deal.” Daryl quickly shook his head and took a few steps back, looking almost relieved for the interruption.

Markus paused and shifted awkwardly until he felt a soft nudge from his small sister standing beside him, pushing him to speak, “I just wanted to say thanks is all. I’m sure it wasn’t easy sticking your neck out for us like you did and we’re just real grateful.”

“You’ve helped us immensely with this warning. Probably preventing more of our people from getting killed. And you saved me. As I see it we’re square.” Shannon winked at him as she tossed back the words he had said to her only the day before.

Markus chuckled softly and shoved his hands in the worn pockets of his baggy jeans, “No one’s ever helped us out like that. We’ve always had to look out for ourselves so it means a lot.”

Shannon furrowed her brow at his comment. How could these two kids have always had to look out for themselves? It made no sense to her and unable to hide the apparent confusion on her face, Shannon chose to speak her mind;

“How could neither of you had anyone ever looking out for you? What about your parents? Where are they?”

By the way Kasey’s eyes fell to the floor Shannon knew she had touched upon a rough subject and immediately wished she could take it back but Markus spoke as nonchalantly as if she had asked about the weather.

“Couldn’t care less where my Dad is. He left when Kasey was born. My Mom…” He paused for a moment, his shoulders sinking just the slightest bit. It would have gone unnoticed if Shannon hadn’t been watching him so carefully, “Well after he left she got… Sick.”

By the tone of his voice, Shannon could tell he didn’t mean a physical ailment. She knew that this was an entirely different kind of sick and it made her heart ache for them. She let him continue with his thoughts, refusing to ask any questions on this sensitive topic.

“She didn’t get better and she died when Kasey was a little kid. We ended up in the system after that.”

Shannon heard a shuffle and saw Daryl gaze up upon hearing this, a look of sympathy passing briefly across his otherwise frozen features.

“Where are your foster parents?” Shannon asked.

“Hopefully dead.”

“Marky!” 

Shannon nearly jumped from surprised by the sudden sharp interjection from the overly quiet Kasey. Markus shot her an apologetic look but shrugged anyways.

“To put it lightly, they would have fit in good with the group we were with.” Markus glanced down at his pouty lipped sister, “You know it’s true, Kace.”

She didn’t agree with him but she didn’t argue either, she only kept her glassy eyes firmly on him until he finally gave in and sighed.

“They gave us a place to sleep and cheap clothes to throw on our backs. I’ll give them that. But they weren’t parents. I was two weeks from my eighteenth birthday when shit hit the fan and the dead came back to life. They were planning on kicking me out without so much as a ‘thanks for nothing’. They were keeping Kasey for the government checks but I bet ya anything they weren’t gonna let me come by and visit even though I was all she had. Guess I’ll never know though.”

He rolled his eyes when Kasey roughly nudged him again, “Just speaking the truth.” He turned back to Shannon, “She doesn’t like it when I talk shit about people and they’re not around to defend themselves.”

Kasey grabbed his arm then and made a move to step away, her soft voice finally breaching the surface, “Thank you again for everything.”

Shannon nodded at the two as Kasey began gently pulling her brother away. Markus called out his parting words as he drifted out of sight, “See ya in the AM!”

Shannon chuckled and moved her attention back towards Daryl but was taken back when she saw he was no longer leaning against the wall. She peaked into the cell to find him sitting on their bunk, his shoulders slumped as he played with the pieces of a broken arrow between his fingers.

“What did you want to talk about?”

He glanced up at her, his dark hair falling into his eyes. She waited out his silence until it became unbearable then she finally took a seat beside him. She gently removed the broken arrow from his grasp and pulled his hand into her lap. Using her other hand, she brushed the unruly hair from his face, her hand resting on his cheek which she could feel him lean into.

“Please talk to me? I hate seeing you like this.”

Daryl locked eyes with her then and slowly removed her hand from his cheek, “I don’t want you goin’ on that attack mission tomorrow.”

Shannon wasn’t sure why she felt so shocked by his admission. It hadn’t even been 24 hours since they had fought about her not going on runs anymore. Now here she was planning on doing something much more dangerous. Maybe it was because she was so caught up in her own emotions she hadn’t given it a second thought or maybe it was because she wrongfully assumed he would know how much it meant to her and would be fine with her going, but whatever the reason, she suddenly felt a brewing within her of more emotions than she could handle at once.

“I’m going.” She cooly stated through gritted teeth.

“Shannon…”

“No!” She barked, “I’m going. I need to.”

“No, you don’t.”

His calm nature only infuriated her more and she stood and jumped away from him.

“Their leader killed my brother. I have to go, I have to kill him.”

Daryl remained seated, his hands firmly gripped the sides of their bed, “I promise I will kill him for you.”

“No. It has to be me.”

“Why?”

“It just has to. Don’t do this to me, Daryl. Don’t take this from me.”

Daryl and Shannon stared at each other for a long minute, the only sounds echoing through their cell being Shannon’s heavy breathing. Finally after some time, Daryl stood and cautiously stepped towards the girl who looked as if she was about to fall off the edge at any moment. When she didn’t back away from him, he placed his hands on either side of her face, his thumb gently stroking down her jawline. He took a deep breath before speaking again;

“Killing him won’t bring Tyler back. It won’t make you feel any better. Believe me.”

Shannon wanted to scream at him, she wanted to fight back and tell him he was wrong, she wanted to storm out of that prison cell and leave him standing there stunned. She wanted to do anything accept admit that he was right, which she heart wrenchingly knew then that he was. She tried to fight the tears that came to her eyes but it was a losing battling so she let them fall freely down her cheeks.

“I know,” she whimpered. “But I have to do something. Please, Daryl. I have to do this.”

She felt as Daryl caught some of her fallen tears with his thumbs before he brought her tightly to his chest, his chin resting delicately on the top of her head. There were no movements or sounds between them as they remained lost in their own thoughts, fighting between their own selfish desires and wanting to give into the other’s wishes. When the tears finally began to slow down, Daryl reluctantly mumbled his thoughts;

“I told you before I had a past. I’ve been through and seen a lot of awful shit.” He paused and took a breath, “But I ain’t never been as scared as I was when you were missing.”

His words came crashing down on her and she pulled back from him enough to look into his eyes. His normal poker face had broken and revealed a scared boy desperate to protect the thing he cared about the most. She had never seen him like this and his sincerity and fear broke Shannon’s heart into a million pieces.

The shards of her broken heart cut deep and caused so many more emotions to start to seep through. She was shocked that she hadn’t noticed he felt this way earlier. She felt immensely guilty that she had been too caught up in her own game plan to even think that he might feel this way. Then she was angry at herself for being so selfish. How could she possibly put him through that kind of stress and worry again? After everything he had done for her, never asking for anything in return, how could she not do this one thing to ease his mind?

She wanted this so badly, to kill this man she blamed for taking away the brother she missed every single day. But she knew deep down it wasn’t as crucial as she was making it out to be. Daryl was right, killing him wouldn’t bring Tyler back and despite her selfish desires, it truly wouldn’t help her, not in the way she thought it could. She knew what was more important was honoring the wishes of the person she cared about most in the world, even if it was the last thing she wanted to do.

“Okay,” Shannon finally nodded her head before she could change her mind. “If it means that much to you, I won’t go.”

Daryl looked at her in disbelief for a moment, warily taking in what she said, “Yeah?”

Shannon nodded and felt only the smallest bit better when she saw the desperate fear on his face melt away and some color start to bloom back onto his cheeks. She wished seeing his relief would make her feel at peace with her decision but something in the deepest part of her mind kept nagging at her.

The thoughts continued to creep until they reached the forefront of her mind making it impossible for her to ignore. She reluctantly broke away from Daryl’s arms and approached their bed. She reached below and began digging through the old box where she kept her things. After a few moments, she pulled out her ripped shirt that she had only shoved in that box the night before. Her hands trembled slightly as she unwrapped the shirt and revealed the black tactical knife that she had secretly prayed she would never have to lay eyes on again.

Upon seeing the familiar glint shining at her, a shiver ran down her spine. The memories she had tried to suppress came funneling back to her as she turned back to the confused Daryl. Trying to hide the shake in her fingers, she held the knife out to him, keeping her eyes firmly on it as she spoke;

“The man who took me yesterday, his name is Lee. This is his knife. Markus used it to free me from the ropes he tied me with. That’s why I have it.”

Daryl looked it over before turning his sharp focus back to her, his eyes filled with questions she wasn’t sure he wanted the answers to. Shannon tried to swallow her nerves down but she found her mouth too dry for such a task.

“He used this knife to cut open my shirt. After he did that, he held this knife in front of my face and he said that when he was finished with me…” Shannon paused as another shudder ran down her spine, “He said he would carve his name into my skin so that everyone would know he got there first.”

Shannon finally peered back up at Daryl, who looked as if a dark storm cloud had filled him, his eyes taking on the murderous look she had seen so recently. She hated herself for telling him all of this, especially after he had finally looked calm, but she needed him to know everything so she could be certain he would be furious enough to kill the two people she felt no longer deserved to be alive. It still hurt deep in her soul to see the pain on his face so she tried to fight back tears as she continued on,

“The man that shot Tyler, the leader of this group, the man I want to kill, he was the one that gave permission for Lee to do those things to me. He stood in front of me and told him to do what he wanted with me before leaving us alone. The man who felt no remorse for shooting my brother is the same man that smiled as he told someone to rape me.”

He was as still as a statue but the fury coursing through Daryl looked about ready to burst. His nails digging so far into his skin it was a wonder he hadn’t drawn blood yet. His next words came out slow, and sharp, and it sent such a fearful chill down Shannon’s spine, it took everything in her to not step back away from him.

“I’m gonna kill them.”

A chilling thought rushed through Shannon’s head as she watched the anger build within him. She knew immediately she had gone too far and deeply regretted telling him such awful details. She had wanted him angry, she wanted him to want them dead as badly as she did, but Rick’s earlier words began ringing in her ears and a serious concern from somewhere inside of her started to grow. She couldn’t let his want for revenge cause him to be careless. Out of sudden fear of what he might do, the words left her lips before she had time to think through what she was saying;

“I want them dead, and I want you to kill them since I can’t. But you have to promise me something else. Something much more important than killing them. Don’t be stupid, stay safe, and stay alive. You need to promise that you’ll come back home to me.”

Shannon stopped herself too late and regretted instantly letting those wishful thoughts be verbally confessed. How dare she force Daryl to make an impossible promise? Especially after her own Mother made her make a promise that still haunted her because it was something she couldn’t keep. But part of her didn’t care, she let herself have this one selfish wish because if it kept him focused on his safety, it’s all that mattered.

“I can’t promise that.” Daryl responded slowly.

“You have to.” Shannon took a deep breath trying to fight the shake in her voice as she locked eyes with him, “You mean everything to me, Daryl Dixon. Everything. If you don’t come back, if something happens to you, if I never see you again. I don’t know what I’d do.”

Before Shannon could take another shaky breath she felt Daryl’s hands against her face, his forehead colliding with her’s.

“Don’t say that.” His fingers tightened around the back of her neck as if holding her in place would keep her safe, “If I don’t come back, you’re gonna keep going on, you gotta promise me that.”

“How could I?”

“You just do. Just like you did when you lost your parents, like when you lost Tyler. You keep living for yourself, and for the people that still need you.”

“No one needs me.”

Daryl pulled back a few inches but kept his face close to her’s, something unreadable on his expression as he shook his head at her.

“When are you gonna see how much everybody around here cares about you? What’s it gonna take for you to get it? They’re your family, Shannon. Why don’t you know that?”

In that instant, it was as if some invisible wall that had been built around her finally cracked and came crashing down. Then suddenly, through the dust and the rubble, images of the past year came whooshing past her. All the memories of the people in her community looking out for her when she needed help, those who comforted her after Tyler’s death, the laughs she shared with them, the worry she had whenever someone was hurt, the heartfelt feelings she felt for so many inside the prison walls.

She had spent so long building up a barrier to prevent herself from trusting anyone, from caring too deeply, for fear that she would be betrayed by those same people or so it wouldn’t hurt when she inevitably lost them. But somehow, all those feelings still snuck in through the cracks of those walls without her even noticing. She loved them all as if they were her family, whether she wanted to or not.

Daryl wiping a few stray tears away from her cheeks brought her back to reality. As her eyes locked in on his she felt something pass through her chest, but it wasn’t the normal fluttery feeling she was all too familiar with. It was something much deeper. As she looked over his face and felt his fingers grazing across her cheeks and tighten around the back of her neck it hit her like a sudden tidal wave crashing down on a normally calm sea.

She had fallen in love with Daryl Dixon.

The confession unleashed from her heart and coursed through her body until it finally reached her brain. It shocked her into complete stillness at first, but as the puzzle pieces came together she soon realized she had always known this but hadn’t allowed herself to believe it. If she was being honest with herself, she hadn’t wanted to believe it. She had lost everyone she loved, so there was some ridiculous part of her that hoped if she didn’t love him she would never lose him.

She wanted to laugh, she wanted to dance, she wanted to jump into his arms and never let him put her back down, but the warm giddiness of a girl in love lasted only the briefest of moments before the dark cloud of reality came blowing through to push away her sunshine. Shannon suddenly understood why Daryl had been so adamant about not wanting her to go with them tomorrow, because she suddenly didn’t want him to go. She quickly racked her brain hoping to come up with solid reason to make him stay but couldn’t think of anything strong enough so instead she went with the next best thing, wishful thinking.

“You’re going to make it back. I know you will.”

He lowered his eyes briefly and let his fingers comb through her hair until they reached her lower back.

“What if I don’t?”

“You will.” Shannon said firmly as she pushed herself closer to him, forcing him to look back at her. “The Daryl I know doesn’t break promises and he certainly doesn’t know how to say no to me.”

“Shannon…”

“But,” she quickly interrupted, “If you turn out to be so cruel as to leave me…I promise I’ll do my best to go on and be strong.”

Daryl stared at her, his expression unreadable. The silence stretched on as he pulled his hand from her waist and gently reached for the locket around her neck, his eyes dropping to it as he ran his fingers across the smooth edges. Shannon quickly wiped the tears from her eyes before she spoke again;

“But we don’t have to worry about that because you’re coming home to me tomorrow night. And I’ll be mad at you that I missed all the action but I’ll want every detail.”

Daryl finally looked back up at her as she did her best to give him a careless smile which he didn’t return. Shannon felt a strong urge within her at that moment to tell him that she loved him but something inside of her held her back. It didn’t feel right at the moment. Neither had said it yet and Shannon didn’t even know if he felt that way about her. If she was to ever tell him it needed to be the right moment and right now it just felt like a ploy to get him to stay and she refused to let that be the last thing on his mind when he left in the morning. 

If he made it back, _when_ he made it back, she would find the right time to tell him.

Suddenly feeling overwhelmed by the silence, Shannon continued to let her frantic thoughts of denial do the talking for her;

“It won’t be so bad. Carol will be here and Tyreese is staying behind. I can clean our cell, it’s a mess. Or I can try to do some work in the inventory building since no one’s done it since… Yeah that might be an okay distraction…”

Her rambling was abruptly silenced when Daryl’s thumb skimmed across her lips, instantly making butterflies burst through her stomach. She glanced up and saw that half smile of his that made her heart melt.

“You always talk so damn fast when you’re nervous.”

Shannon couldn’t help but sheepishly grin in return as his thumb continued to trace along her facial features.

“Then let’s not talk anymore.”

Daryl looked her over slowly, his eyes studying every inch of her features as if he was trying to memorize her face. When he finally leaned down and covered his mouth with hers it was soft and yet filled with such passion it was as if everything he wanted to say but couldn’t was being released into her. Shannon thought of nothing but his kiss as she felt herself being lifted into his arms and gently placed on their bed.

The aggressive, hungry way they normally expressed themselves was much different that night. This time they explored each other’s bodies in a way they had never done before. Their movements and touches were slow and tender with not an inch of skin being left untouched.

The two freed their minds of anything other than this moment in time and allowed themselves to completely surrender to the other without holding back, with nothing to lose. It was a feeling of complete vulnerability and yet neither of them minded. It was different and wonderful and Shannon held onto it as long as she could.

Shannon’s breathing was still heavy as she finally came down from her high. The bliss of the moment wiped away as she remembered what awaited them tomorrow. She could tell by the look on Daryl’s face that realty had sunk in for him too. He gently reached up and tucked a few stray blonde hairs behind her ear before pulling her down to lay on his chest. His skin felt warm and damp from the sweat that still clung to their bodies and it made Shannon smile sadly.

“Wake me up before you leave, okay?”

Daryl hesitated, his hand absentmindedly combing through her hair. “You sure?”

“Absolutely. I need to see you before you go.”

“Why can’t we just have this? It’d be easier if I just slip out and let you sleep. Don’t ya think it’ll be harder tomorrow?”

“I don’t care how hard it is. Please, Daryl. Don’t sneak out. It’s hard enough that I can’t be with you tomorrow. I need to at least see you.”

After another pause, she finally felt Daryl nod his head, “Okay. I’ll wake you up before I go.”

Shannon smiled sadly as she pushed her body even closer to him, “Thank you.”

“Night, Shannon.”

She went to respond in her usual way but the words caught in her throat. Instead she traced her fingers along his chest and silently mouthed what she wished she had the courage to say to him;

_“I love you, Daryl.”_


End file.
